Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PCAPdroid VS netcat

Compare PCAPdroid VS netcat and see what are their differences

PCAPdroid logo PCAPdroid

PCAPdroid is an android app to capture the phone traffic and analyze it remotely (e.g. via Wireshark). The traffic can be easily downloaded from a remote device thanks to the integrated HTTP server, or streamed to a remote UDP receiver.

netcat logo netcat

Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections...
  • PCAPdroid Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-03
  • netcat Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-19

PCAPdroid features and specs

  • Open Source
    PCAPdroid is an open-source tool, meaning that its source code is publicly available. This allows developers to review, modify, and improve the software, enhancing transparency and trust in the tool.
  • Network Packet Capture
    PCAPdroid allows users to capture network traffic on Android devices without requiring root access. This is useful for network analysis, diagnostics, and security inspections.
  • Data Privacy
    The software emphasizes data privacy by capturing traffic locally on the device and not sending it to external servers. This provides users with the assurance that their data is not being inadvertently shared.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    PCAPdroid provides an intuitive interface that makes it easier for users to navigate and operate the tool even if they are not network experts.

Possible disadvantages of PCAPdroid

  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up the tool for packet capture may require a certain level of technical expertise, which could be challenging for beginners in networking or software development.
  • Platform Limitation
    PCAPdroid is specifically designed for Android devices, so users on other platforms, such as iOS or desktops, cannot use this tool directly.
  • Resource Intensity
    Continuous packet capture can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting device performance and battery life on Android devices.
  • Limited to Local Traffic
    PCAPdroid is limited to capturing traffic from the device it is installed on, meaning it cannot capture or analyze traffic from other devices on the network.

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.

PCAPdroid videos

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netcat videos

Linux Terminal 101: Netcat

More videos:

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PCAPdroid and netcat)
Monitoring Tools
36 36%
64% 64
Log Management
41 41%
59% 59
Productivity
37 37%
63% 63
Security
49 49%
51% 51

User comments

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Reviews

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

PCAPdroid Reviews

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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.
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.

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.

PCAPdroid mentions (0)

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

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: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PCAPdroid and netcat, 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.

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

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

NetworkMiner - NetworkMiner is a Network Forensic Analysis Tool (NFAT) for Windows.

SmartSniff - SmartSniff is a packet sniffer that capture TCP/IP packets and display them as sequence of conversations between clients and servers.

socat - socat is a relay for bidirectional data transfer between two independent data channels.