Cybersecurity · head to head
Semperis vs Wireshark
Semperis
Cybersecurity
Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Wireshark
Cybersecurity
The world's foremost network protocol analyzer
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Wireshark has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.; Wireshark free and open source under the GNU GPL; downloadable without paying any license fee, no commercial tier
- They diverge on capability: Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Wireshark covers Deep packet inspection.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Semperis and Wireshark actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Semperis
- Active Directory Forest Recovery
- Malware-free restore
- Replication-stream monitoring
- Automated rollback
- Attack indicator scoring
- Entra ID and Okta coverage
- Purple Knight
- Forest Druid
Only in Wireshark
- Deep packet inspection
- Live capture
- Offline analysis
- 3000+ protocol support
- Rich display filters
- VoIP analysis
- Decryption support
- Scripting with Lua
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Semperis
- An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Wireshark
- Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Wireshark
- Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Wireshark
- Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot Wireshark
Wireshark
- Network Securitynot Semperis
- Packet Analysisnot Semperis
- Open Sourcenot Semperis
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Semperis
- Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
- The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
- It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
- Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
- Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.
Wireshark
- Free and open source under the GNU GPL; downloadable without paying any license fee, no commercial tier
Pricing, plan by plan
Semperis
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.
Wireshark
Free- Free & Open SourceFree
- Full functionality
- Deep inspection
- Live capture
Which should you pick?
Choose Semperis if
- You need active directory forest recovery.
- You also want malware-free restore.
Choose Wireshark if
- You need deep packet inspection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Desktop, Cli.
- You also want live capture.
Questions people ask
- Is Semperis or Wireshark better?
- Neither clearly leads. Semperis starts at On request and Wireshark at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Semperis or Wireshark?
- Wireshark has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Semperis and Free for Wireshark.
- Does Semperis or Wireshark run on more platforms?
- Semperis runs on Web. Wireshark runs on Desktop, Cli.
- Can I use Wireshark for free?
- Yes. Wireshark has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Semperis starts at On request.
- What is Semperis best used for?
- Semperis is most often used for an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack, post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold, continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs miss, hybrid estates where ad, entra id and okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the three. Of those, an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack and post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold are not what Wireshark is typically brought in for.
- What can Semperis do that Wireshark cannot?
- Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback. Wireshark covers Deep packet inspection, Live capture, Offline analysis, 3000+ protocol support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Semperis: Does this replace my backups?
No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.
Wireshark: Is there a cost to download and use Wireshark?
No, Wireshark is completely free. It's distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2, making it "free software" with no demo limitations. The full version is available at no cost.
SourceSemperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?
Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.
Wireshark: What support options are available for Wireshark users?
Wireshark offers multiple support channels including mailing lists, an active Discord community, the Ask Wireshark Q&A platform, comprehensive documentation, a user guide, and developer resources for those needing technical assistance.
SourceSemperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?
Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.
Wireshark: Are there different pricing tiers or subscription levels?
Wireshark does not offer pricing tiers or subscriptions. There is one free version available to all users regardless of use case, personal, professional, or organizational.
SourceSemperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?
The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.
Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?
It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.
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