Wiresharkvs
1Password
1Password: The world's most-loved password manager
Wireshark
The world's foremost network protocol analyzer
As of 30 August 2026, Wireshark is free to use. Wireshark is the world's most popular network protocol analyzer. Softwr lists it under Cybersecurity. Wireshark is made by Wireshark Foundation, launched in 1998, available on Windows, macOS, API.
Overview
What Wireshark does
Wireshark is the world's most popular network protocol analyzer. It lets you capture and interactively browse network traffic, helping you understand what's happening on your network at a microscopic level.
What people use it for
- Network Security
- Packet Analysis
- Open Source
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Wireshark.
- Free and open source under the GNU GPL; downloadable without paying any license fee, no commercial tier
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Wireshark
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- WiresharkvsBitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender Total Security: The world's #1 rated antivirus
- WiresharkvsLastPass
LastPass: Simplify online life with LastPass password manager
- WiresharkvsNorton 360
Norton 360: Powerful protection against evolving threats
Pricing
What Wireshark costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free & Open Source
Free
- Full functionality
- Deep inspection
- Live capture
- Offline analysis
- Rich VoIP analysis
- Export capabilities
Capabilities
Features
Deep packet inspection
Live capture
Offline analysis
3000+ protocol support
Rich display filters
VoIP analysis
Decryption support
Scripting with Lua
tcpdump
Integration with tcpdump
TShark
Integration with TShark
Nmap
Integration with Nmap
Snort
Integration with Snort
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceWhat 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.
SourceAre 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.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Wireshark
- Company
- Wireshark Foundation
- Based in
- Global (Open Source)
Keep looking
Where to go from Wireshark
- Wireshark alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Wireshark pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Wireshark badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Cybersecurity softwareThe full category
- Best Cybersecurity softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Cybersecurity software for
Compare Wireshark with
- 1Password
- Bitdefender Total Security
- Norton 360
- LastPass
- Bitwarden
- OWASP ZAP
- Syft
- Metasploit
- Cosign
- HashiCorp Vault
- Infisical
- Semgrep
- Fenergo
- Google Authenticator
- Hanwha Vision
- Idira
- IVPN
- Grype
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Wireshark, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Wireshark
Wireshark alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Wireshark pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Wireshark
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Wireshark badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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