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netcat VS PuTTY

Compare netcat VS PuTTY and see what are their differences

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netcat logo netcat

Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections...

PuTTY logo PuTTY

Popular free terminal application. Mostly used as an SSH client.
  • netcat Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-19
  • PuTTY Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13

netcat features and specs

  • Versatility
    Netcat can be used for a wide variety of network-related tasks, including port scanning, file transfers, and working as a backdoor.
  • Simplicity
    Netcat operates with simple command-line arguments, making it easy to use for those familiar with command-line interfaces.
  • Speed
    Netcat is lightweight and performs network operations quickly, without the overhead associated with more complex tools.
  • Scriptability
    Netcat is highly scriptable, allowing users to automate network tasks by including it in bash or other scripts.
  • Cross-Platform
    Netcat is available on multiple operating systems including Unix, Linux, and Windows, making it a versatile tool for different environments.

Possible disadvantages of netcat

  • Security
    Netcat can be misused, as it is often favored by attackers for creating reverse shells and other malicious activities.
  • Lack of Encryption
    Netcat does not natively support encrypted connections, meaning data transmitted can be vulnerable to interception.
  • Minimal Logging
    Netcat provides minimal logging capabilities, which can make it difficult to track usage or troubleshoot issues.
  • Basic Functionality
    Netcat provides core networking functions but lacks advanced features found in specialized tools.
  • Cannot Handle High Load
    Netcat is not designed to handle high traffic loads effectively, making it less suitable for some enterprise use cases.

PuTTY features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    PuTTY is free to use and its source code is openly available. This allows flexibility for users to modify it according to their needs and ensures that there are no licensing costs associated with its usage.
  • Wide Protocol Support
    PuTTY supports various network protocols including SSH, Telnet, SCP, and SFTP. This makes it versatile for different types of server management and data transfer tasks.
  • Lightweight
    PuTTY is a lightweight application that consumes minimal system resources, making it suitable for use on older or less powerful systems without significant performance degradation.
  • Extensible Configuration Options
    PuTTY offers a wide range of configuration options for terminal emulation, keyboard mappings, and connection settings, giving users fine control over their connections and workflow.
  • Portability
    PuTTY can be run as a portable application from USB drives or other external storage devices without the need for a formal installation process on the host system.

Possible disadvantages of PuTTY

  • No Integrated File Manager
    Unlike some other SSH clients, PuTTY does not come with an integrated file manager, which can make tasks involving file transfers less convenient without the use of PuTTY's separate utilities like PSCP or WinSCP.
  • Limited Scripting Capabilities
    PuTTY itself lacks advanced scripting capabilities which can be a limitation for users who need to automate sessions or workflows extensively. External tools or extensions are necessary for these needs.
  • Basic User Interface
    The user interface of PuTTY is quite basic compared to modern applications. It lacks some of the polished features and aesthetics that other terminal clients might offer.
  • No Tabbed Sessions
    PuTTY does not natively support multiple tabbed sessions within a single window, which can make managing multiple connections less convenient. Users typically need to open multiple instances of the application.
  • Windows-Centric
    While PuTTY is primarily developed for Windows, its cross-platform capabilities through ports like PuTTY for Mac or Linux are not as well-supported, leading to potential inconsistencies and lack of features compared to the Windows version.

netcat videos

+ Add

Linux Terminal 101: Netcat

More videos:

  • Review - Advanced Netcat and TCP Fun - Hak5 1922
  • Review - Netcat 101: Remote Shells in Windows, HakTip 86

PuTTY videos

+ Add

MASSIVE STORE PUTTY REVIEW!

More videos:

  • Review - MOST EXPENSIVE STORE PUTTY + MORE!
  • Review - STORE BOUGHT SLIME & PUTTY REVIEW, MIXING ALL MY SLIME !! SLIME SMOOTHIE | SATISFYING SLIME VIDEO 32

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to netcat and PuTTY)

netcat

PuTTY

Monitoring Tools
100 100%
Monitoring Tools
0% 0
SSH
0 0%
SSH
100% 100
Log Management
100 100%
Log Management
0% 0
Server Management
0 0%
Server Management
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare netcat and PuTTY

netcat Reviews

9 Best Angry IP Scanner Alternatives Reviewed 2021 (Free & Paid)
Netcat lacks a lot of the documentation you can easily find with software like AngryIP or Nmap which in my opinion is its biggest drawback. If you’re thinking about trying out Netcat, check out our Netcat Cheat Sheet to quickly pull up powerful and useful commands. Netcat is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.
Source: www.comparitech.com
Top 5 Best Port Scanners
Netcat is one of the oldest network tools in the "Unixverse", it's been there since 1995, and the last official version is from 2004. Although it has many forks and variants that work pretty well on modern operating systems, like ncat from the Nmap suite, or this alternative Netcat version from Mike Frysinger.
Source: securitytrails.com

PuTTY Reviews

10 Best PuTTY Alternatives To Try in 2024
Instead of a full-fledged PuTTY alternative, SuperPuTTY is an add-on that changes how PuTTY looks. It also brings several additional features that are missing from the original PuTTY implementation.
Source: www.redswitches.com
10 Best PuTTY Alternatives for SSH Remote Connection
SuperPuTTY requires you to install the original PuTTY for the application to install and run. Besides that, the SuperPuTTY is an advanced PuTTY version with secure SSH connection protection with SCP and SFTP file transfers.
Source: www.tecmint.com
Looking for MobaXterm Alternative? Here are Some Options to Consider
Putty is a popular SSH and telnet client for Windows. It's lightweight, fast, and easy to use. Putty offers all the basic features you need for remote desktop access, including SSH, telnet, rlogin, and raw TCP connections. It also has a built-in serial console for connecting to serial ports. However, Putty doesn't have advanced features like file transfer, X11 forwarding,...
Source: www.learnitguide.net
Top 10 Best MobaXterm Alternatives for Windows, macOS & Linux In 2021
PuTTY is, without a reservation, the top SSH customer that we can discover for Windows. Light and really basic, this customer satisfies its function: to enable us to connect to any Windows or Linux server from another location to manage it safely through the Internet. In addition, it has a series of alternatives that permit us to configure, for example, the look or conserve...
Source: www.techblitz.org
The 10 Best Linux Terminal Emulators
The list is by no means exhaustive in any way. There are many Linux terminal emulators with dedicated following and users. Other terminal emulators that could have easily made it into my list include; xfce4-terminal, PuTTY, Tilda, or Yakuake. The default terminal emulator in Linux distros is always good enough for many users. Nailing down a favorite emulator requires you to...
Source: www.fosslinux.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, netcat seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

netcat mentions (7)

  • could not connect to the rhel-9 from putty in windows machine
    If you don't like using telnet, that's fine. Don't use it. There are plenty of other options available. Use netcat. Or use netcat. Or use netcat. Or read and write directly to /dev/tcp/hostname/port using shell constructs. Or run openssl s_client if you suspect something complicated is listening on the other end. There is more than one way to do it and ways that are not your way still work. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • The HTTP crash course nobody asked for
    Reminder, there are many different netcats, here are some of the most commons: - netcat-traditional http://www.stearns.org/nc/ - netcat-openbsd : https://github.com/openbsd/src/blob/master/usr.bin/nc/netcat.c (also packaged in Debian) - ncat https://nmap.org/ncat/ - netcat GNU: https://netcat.sourceforge.net/ (quite rare) To prevent any confusion, I like to recommend socat: http://www.dest-unreach.org/socat/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Gaining remote access to a computer with a reverse shell attack in Node.js
    A common tool to execute a reverse shell is called netcat. If you're using macOS, it should be installed by default. You can check by running nc -help in a terminal window. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Programm to send and receive TCP/UDP Packets
    You could try using Ncat on Windows or netcat on Linux, though it's a command-line only tool if that matters. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Is there a way to copy a file from a remote shell to local without using scp?
    If you have netcat, you can easily set up a transfer from one machine to the other:. Source: almost 4 years ago
View more

PuTTY mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of PuTTY yet. Tracking of PuTTY recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing netcat and PuTTY, you can also consider the following products

Wireshark - Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.

MobaXterm - Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more

tcpdump - tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line.

KiTTY - KiTTY is a fork from version 0.70 of PuTTY. It adds extra features to PuTTY.

Ettercap - Ettercap is a suite for man in the middle attacks on LAN.

ConEmu - ConEmu-Maximus5 is a full-featured local terminal for Windows devs, admins and users. Get better console window with tabs, splits, Quake style, copy+paste, DosBox and PuTTY integration, and much more.

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