Wireshark Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to Wireshark for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best Linux alternative is tcpdump, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Wireshark and many of them are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to Wireshark are NetworkMiner, Proxyman, Ettercap and Termshark.

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Most Wireshark alternatives are Network Monitors, but you can also narrow the list to Network Analyzers or HTTP(S) Debuggers. Other popular filters are Android, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Linux. You can also filter for EU-based alternatives if you prefer software from the European Union.
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Alternatives
Wireshark alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Free native HTTPS debugging proxy for Mac (Linux beta) with a built-in API client and an MCP server for AI coding assistants.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  2. Real-time network traffic visualizer — see every connection your computer makes. Privacy-first, 100% local. / Visualiseur de trafic réseau en temps réel, 100% local.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  3. TUI tool for generating packets of arbitrary input and monitoring packets on any network interfaces (default: eth0). The list of interfaces to be specified is output when packemon --interfaces is run. This tool works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2025

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Homebrew
    Good alternative?
     
  4. VisualEther turns Wireshark packet captures into readable sequence diagrams — and lets an AI agent reason about them. Built on tshark, it reconstructs multi-layer protocol conversations (5G NR/core, LTE, IMS/VoLTE, SIP/RTP, BGP, OSPF, DNS, HTTP/2 & HTTP/3, TLS, Kerberos...

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2026

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  5. Open-source eBPF sensor that turns IPv4/UDP SIP and correlated RTP/RTCP observed on a privileged Linux host into Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards. It stores no packets or audio, has no packet-search UI, and reports QoE only for traffic visible at the sensor.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  6. streamtop icon
     Like

    streamtop is an open-source terminal user interface (TUI) and command-line tool built for passive, real-time diagnostics of HLS, MPEG-DASH, and IPTV streams.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  7. usb-rea icon
     Like

    usb-rea captures the USB traffic of a device (usbmon on Linux, USBPcap on Windows) while you click around in its vendor app, diffs the packets per action, infers the protocol, and writes an open-source Python/libusb driver, with every conclusion linked to the exact packets that...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  8. A visual PCAP and PCAPNG cleanup tool for trimming, redacting, repairing, annotating, and exporting safer packet evidence for support handoffs.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Since

    • Since 2026

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  9. iotaudit icon
     Like

    iotaudit is a free, open-source command line tool and MCP server that audits the Wi-Fi IoT devices on your own home network. It shows who each device talks to (domains, countries, cloud vendors), whether traffic is encrypted, open ports, UPnP port forwards, known issue hints...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  10.  2 likes

    Driftnet is a program which listens to network traffic and picks out images from TCP streams it observes.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2016

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
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