Best Packet Analyzers of 2025

Paessler PRTG is an all-inclusive monitoring solution with an intuitive, user-friendly interface powered by a cutting-edge monitoring engine. It optimizes connections and workloads, reduces operational costs, and prevents outages. It also saves time and controls service level agreements (SLAs). This solution includes specialized monitoring features such as flexible alerting, cluster failover, distributed monitoring, maps, dashboards, and in-depth reporting.

Arkime is a comprehensive open-source solution for large-scale packet capturing, indexing, and data management, aimed at enhancing the current security framework by preserving and organizing network traffic in the widely-used PCAP format. This system enables complete visibility into network activities, which is crucial for the rapid detection and rectification of security-related and network problems. Security personnel are equipped with vital visibility data that aids in the prompt response to incidents, allowing them to uncover the entire scope of any attacks. With its architecture designed for deployment across numerous clustered configurations, Arkime can effortlessly scale to handle traffic volumes of hundreds of gigabits per second. This capability empowers security analysts to effectively respond to, recreate, examine, and verify information regarding potential threats present in the network, facilitating timely and accurate countermeasures. Furthermore, as an open-source platform, Arkime not only offers users the advantages of transparency and economic efficiency but also promotes flexibility and receives robust community support, making it a valuable tool for any organization. Overall, Arkime stands out as an essential asset for organizations aiming to bolster their cybersecurity posture.

NetworkMiner, an open-source tool for network forensics, extracts artifacts like files, images, emails and passwords, from captured network traffic stored in PCAP files. It can also capture real-time network traffic by sniffing the network interface. The analyzed network traffic contains detailed information about each IP. This can be used to discover passive assets and get a better overview of communicating devices. NetworkMiner was designed to run primarily on Windows, but it can also be used with Linux. Since its 2007 release, it has become a favorite tool among incident response teams, law enforcement agencies and companies and organizations around the world.

Xplico is a prominent tool featured in many leading digital forensics and penetration testing distributions, including Kali Linux, BackTrack, DEFT, Security Onion, Matriux, BackBox, CERT Forensics Tools, Pentoo, and CERT-Toolkit. It supports simultaneous access for multiple users, allowing each to manage one or several cases effectively. The interface is web-based, and its backend database options include SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL. Additionally, Xplico can function as a Cloud Network Forensic Analysis Tool. Its primary objective is to extract application data from internet traffic captures, such as retrieving emails via protocols like POP, IMAP, and SMTP, along with HTTP content, VoIP calls through SIP, and file transfers using FTP and TFTP from pcap files. Importantly, Xplico is not classified as a network protocol analyzer. As an open-source Network Forensic Analysis Tool (NFAT), it organizes the reassembled data with an associated XML file that distinctly identifies the data flows and the corresponding pcap file. This structured approach enables users to efficiently analyze and manage the data extracted from network traffic.

Riverbed Packet Analyzer enhances the speed of real-time network packet analysis and the reporting process for extensive trace files, utilizing a user-friendly graphical interface and a variety of pre-set analysis perspectives. This tool allows users to rapidly identify and resolve intricate network and application performance problems right down to the bit level, featuring seamless integration with Wireshark. By simply dragging and dropping preconfigured views onto virtual interfaces or trace files, users can achieve results in mere seconds, drastically reducing the time typically needed for such tasks. Furthermore, it supports the capture and combination of multiple trace files, which aids in accurately diagnosing issues across different segments of the network. It also allows users to zoom in on a 100-microsecond window, enabling them to spot utilization spikes or microbursts that could overwhelm a gigabit network and lead to major disruptions. Such capabilities make it an indispensable tool for network professionals seeking to optimize performance and troubleshoot effectively.

The Intelligence Hub serves as a comprehensive real-time analytics platform that models and connects client trading activities, plant efficiency, and counterpart execution within venues to facilitate proactive management and operational strategies. Corvil functions as an open data infrastructure that grants API access to a wide array of analytics, trading insights, market data messages, and their foundational packet structures. The Streaming Data API enhances this system by providing an expanding collection of Corvil Connectors, which allow for the seamless integration of streaming data directly from network packets into preferred big data platforms. Additionally, Corvil Center acts as a centralized access point for all analytical and reporting needs, enabling users to visualize vast quantities of granular packet data captured by Corvil with just a few clicks. Furthermore, Corvil Instrumentation delivers exceptional price-to-performance packet analysis and capture appliances, including software-defined packet sniffers known as Corvil Sensors, designed to extend capabilities into virtual and cloud-based environments, as well as the Corvil AppAgent for internal multi-hop software instrumentation, thereby ensuring comprehensive data insights across diverse settings. This integrated approach not only optimizes data accessibility but also enhances decision-making processes for businesses operating in dynamic environments.