Overview

bwmon is a self-hosted Linux tool for tracking network traffic on an individual machine. It is best suited to administrators who need to connect bandwidth spikes with the processes and connections behind them. Its focused, low-overhead approach is useful for host-level investigation, but its single-interface scope rules it out for broad network or fleet monitoring.

Key features

The live view polls receive and transmit rates each second, pairing a rolling chart with top-process data. A daemonized nethogs process refreshes that attribution about every two seconds, so process visibility is useful for identifying likely talkers without implying instantaneous updates.

Spike capture is more investigative than a basic rate alert: when interface traffic exceeds five times its rolling two-minute average, bwmon records process attribution, rates across all interfaces, and top conntrack flows. Separately, a banner appears when the rolling five-minute average reaches 40 Mbps, and cleared alerts stay in the history table. These distinct triggers provide both contextual spike records and a sustained-rate warning.

Five-minute samples are retained for six months, with views from one hour through all time and adaptive bucketing. A time-of-week heatmap and rate histogram help surface recurring patterns. The README says six months of history uses at most 50 MB per interface and the bwprocs daemon consumes less than one percent of a CPU core at idle. That makes the stated footprint modest for a host monitor, though the history is not a substitute for longer-term analytics.

Installation uses a shell script that sets up the collector, systemd service, cron jobs, and nginx server block; the dashboard opens on port 8080 by default. The bundled server block is open, so an internet-facing deployment needs an authenticated reverse proxy or basic authentication. The MIT license and self-hosted design avoid signup and cloud dependence.

Pricing

bwmon — 0.00 USD per free. The plan covers a single Linux host, self-hosted, under the MIT license. There is no paid tier or free trial to weigh against the free plan. The tradeoff is scope: one network interface is monitored, and the project positions multi-host or long-horizon analytics as work for heavier tools.

Platforms

bwmon runs on Linux kernel 4.0 or later and requires root access. Its installer uses apt for Debian and Ubuntu; other distributions require manual installation of nginx, PHP-FPM, PHP CLI, and nethogs. The web dashboard is served by the host, so teams should account for both Linux compatibility and securing access before exposing it beyond a trusted network.

Who it's for

Choose bwmon when the question is which processes are consuming bandwidth on one Linux server, or when a sudden traffic surge needs host-level context. Its retained samples and pattern views suit operational troubleshooting on that machine. It is a poor fit for organizations that need centralized multi-host visibility, SNMP coverage, or analytics spanning longer periods.

Pros and cons

Useful process context: live talker attribution and spike records that include conntrack flows help narrow down what is driving traffic.
Longer host history at a stated low footprint: six months of five-minute samples, plus heatmap and histogram views, are paired with a reported cap of 50 MB per interface.
Self-hosted and MIT-licensed: no cloud service or signup is required, which suits teams keeping monitoring on their own infrastructure.
Narrow monitoring scope: the project monitors one interface on one Linux host, limiting its value for network-wide or fleet-level operations.
Deployment needs care: root access is required, non-Debian/Ubuntu setups involve manual dependencies, and the default nginx configuration needs protection before internet exposure.

Alternatives

Bandwidth Monitoring Software is the broader category for comparing tools by monitoring scope and platform.

ntopng is a stronger candidate for practitioners who need a network-oriented monitor with support across Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted or web environments; its Community plan targets small networks and suggests a maximum of 256 live local hosts. Choose bwmon instead when the priority is focused process-level investigation on one Linux host.
ElastiFlow is worth considering when flow-oriented dashboards, detections, and SNMP device coverage matter; its free Basic plan includes up to 4,000 records per second and 25 SNMP devices. bwmon is narrower and centers on one host and its processes.
Nagios XI offers a free tier capped at 7 nodes or 100 services, whichever comes first, with most Standard features and self-support. It is the alternative to assess when node or service monitoring is a better fit than bwmon's single-interface bandwidth investigation.
Akvorado is another free, self-hosted network monitoring option for readers comparing network-focused tools.
Kentik Network Monitoring System is a paid option with a 30-day trial and a Pro plan starting at 2000.00 USD per year; consider it when a paid network monitoring service is preferable to a free, single-host tool.
SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager has a free Lite tier with five rules or streams, usage reports, live usage monitoring, and penalties for heavy transfers. It may suit readers who need rule-based bandwidth management rather than bwmon's Linux host investigation.
GlassWire offers a free tier with one day of bandwidth usage, 24 hours of network history, and current-day alert logs; consider it when that shorter history meets the need.
MRTG is free software under the GNU GPL for monitoring SNMP devices and other data sources, making it an alternative when device-oriented monitoring is the priority.

Verdict

Choose bwmon for a single Linux host when you need to identify traffic-driving processes and preserve enough history to investigate recurring spikes without sending data to a cloud service. Its free, self-hosted MIT package is compelling for that bounded job. Look elsewhere if you need multi-host coverage, multiple interfaces, or longer-horizon analytics.

	bwmon	SparrowIQ
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Linux, self-hosted, Web	Web, Windows, iOS, Android
Free plan	Yes	No
Application monitoring	Yes	—
User monitoring	No	—
SNMP monitoring	No	—
Bandwidth alerts	Yes	—

bwmon vs SparrowIQ

bwmon

SparrowIQ