Open Source Wireshark Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to Wireshark for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Linux alternative is tcpdump. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Wireshark and 17 are open source and available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Linux alternatives to Wireshark are Ettercap, Termshark, Sysdig and Scapy.

filter to find the best alternatives

Wireshark alternatives are mainly Network Monitors, but if you're looking for Network Analyzers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Linux, iPhone + Network Monitoring and iPhone + Network Analyzer. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Wireshark.
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Alternatives list

  1. tcpdump icon

    tcpdump

     60 likes
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    tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line. It allows the user to intercept and display TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network to which the computer is attached.

    28 tcpdump alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    tcpdump screenshot 1
     
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    1
    37
    Comments about tcpdump as an Alternative to Wireshark
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It's open source and use CLI

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Wireshark Icon
    tcpdump icon

    • Most users think tcpdump is a great Wireshark alternative.

    • tcpdump is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Wireshark.

    • tcpdump is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Wireshark.

    • tcpdump is Free and Open SourceWireshark is also Free and Open Source
  2. Ettercap icon

    Ettercap

     19 likes
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    Ettercap is a suite for man in the middle attacks on LAN. It features sniffing of live connections, content filtering on the fly and many other interesting tricks.

    20 Ettercap alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Ettercap screenshot 1
     
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    7
  4. Termshark icon

    Termshark

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    If you're debugging on a remote machine with a large pcap and no desire to scp it back to your desktop, termshark can help!

    53 Termshark alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  5. Sysdig icon

    Sysdig

     12 likes
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    Sysdig is open source, system-level exploration: capture system state and activity from a running Linux instance, then save, filter and analyze. Think of it as strace + tcpdump + lsof + awesome sauce.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     

  6. Scapy

     7 likes
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    Scapy is a powerful interactive packet manipulation program. It is able to forge or decode packets of a wide number of protocols, send them on the wire, capture them, match requests and replies, and much more.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Scapy screenshot 1
     

  7. Nethogs

     21 likes
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    NetHogs is a small 'net top' tool. Instead of breaking the traffic down per protocol or per subnet, like most tools do, it groups bandwidth by process.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Xfce
    Nethogs screenshot 1
     
  9. G-Earth icon

    G-Earth

     2 likes
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    Cross-platform Habbo packet manipulator.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    G-Earth screenshot 1
     

  10. tcpflow

     3 likes
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    tcpflow, a TCP Flow Recorder, is a program that captures data transmitted as part of TCP connections (flows), and stores the data in a way that is convenient for protocol analysis or debugging. A program like 'tcpdump' shows a summary of packets seen on the wire, but...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    tcpflow screenshot 1
     

  11. httpry

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    httpry is a tool designed for displaying and logging HTTP traffic. It is not intended to perform analysis itself, but instead to capture, parse and/or log the traffic for later analysis. It can be run in real-time displaying the live traffic on the wire, or as a daemon process...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     

  12. PlayCap

     1 like
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    PlayCap plays back captures made from Wireshark, tcpdump, WinDump, or any libpcap-based application. PlayCap was originally (and still is) a part of IG Scanner by Signal 11 Software, but was spun off as a separate app and released as Open Source software.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • tcpdump
    • Wireshark
    PlayCap screenshot 1
     

  13. packeth

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    packeth is GUI and CLI packet generator tool for ethernet. Primary it is developed and maintained for Linux, but some ports for Windows and MAC have also be done. It allows you to create and send any possible packet or sequence of packets on the ethernet link.

    14 packeth alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    packeth screenshot 1
     
  14. iwScanner icon

    iwScanner

     7 likes
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    iwScanner is a wireless scanner for linux with an easy to use graphic interface.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    main interface
     
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