Wireshark

Input—per 1M tokens
Output—per 1M tokens
Context—tokens
WeightsClosed

About

Wireshark is ranked #5 of 29 in network protocol analyzers on Inferse. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. There is a free plan.

Compared on network protocol analyzers

Free plan
Yeswireshark.org
Traffic decryption
Yeswireshark.org

Facts

Purpose
Wireshark captures and interactively browses network traffic as a network protocol analyzer.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Users
Network professionals, security experts, developers, and educators use Wireshark.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Protocol inspection
It supports deep inspection of hundreds of protocols.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Capture and analysis
It supports live capture and offline analysis, with a graphical interface and the TShark terminal utility.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Filtering
Wireshark provides display filters, whose syntax differs from capture filters.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
File formats
It reads and writes many capture formats, including pcap and pcapng, and can decompress gzip-compressed capture files on the fly.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Analysis features
Features include VoIP analysis, packet coloring rules, and export to XML, PostScript, CSV, or plain text.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Decryption
It supports decryption for protocols including IPsec, Kerberos, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
License
Wireshark is open-source software released under the GNU General Public License version 2, and the downloaded version is the full version without a license fee.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Capture dependency
The Windows packages include Npcap, which is required for live packet capture.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Capture limitation
The traffic visible to Wireshark depends on the operating system, capture library, network interface, and network configuration; switched networks may not expose unicast traffic between other ports.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Support
Community support is available through the Q&A site and Wireshark users mailing list.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Security updates
The download page links release security advisories, including notices for dissector crashes and other vulnerabilities.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026
Project history
The project began in 1998 and is developed with contributions from networking experts around the world.wireshark.org · 29 Sept 2026

Company

Founded
1998wireshark.org · 23 Sept 2026

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Where it ranks on Inferse

Sources