Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SmokePing VS gping (CLI)

Compare SmokePing VS gping (CLI) and see what are their differences

SmokePing logo SmokePing

Smokeping is a tool for measuring latency.

gping (CLI) logo gping (CLI)

Ping, but with a graph. Contribute to orf/gping development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • SmokePing Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-22
  • gping (CLI) Landing page
    Landing page //
    2026-03-29

SmokePing features and specs

  • Detailed Latency Measurement
    SmokePing offers detailed graphics for latency and packet loss, allowing for in-depth analysis of network performance over time.
  • Free and Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, SmokePing is freely available to anyone and can be adapted and modified as needed.
  • Wide Range of Probes
    Supports a wide range of network probes, including ICMP, TCP, and DNS, enabling comprehensive network monitoring.
  • Customization Capability
    Highly customizable through configuration files, allowing users to tailor the tool to their specific monitoring needs.
  • Alerting System
    Offers a robust alerting system that can notify administrators via email or other methods when network thresholds are breached.

Possible disadvantages of SmokePing

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a solid understanding of both the tool and the underlying network technologies.
  • Limited User Interface
    The web interface is functional but could be considered dated and not as user-friendly compared to some modern network monitoring tools.
  • Resource Intensive
    Can be resource-intensive, particularly when monitoring a large number of targets, which may necessitate more robust hardware.
  • Lacks Integrated Reporting
    Does not offer advanced built-in reporting features, requiring users to manually extract data or use additional tools for detailed reports.
  • Community Support
    While it has a supportive user community, it may not have the same level of comprehensive support and documentation as some commercial solutions.

gping (CLI) features and specs

  • Visual real-time graphing
    gping provides a real-time, terminal-based graph of ping latency over time, making it easy to visually spot trends, spikes, and packet loss at a glance โ€” something the standard ping command cannot do.
  • Multi-host comparison
    You can ping multiple hosts simultaneously and see their latency graphs side by side in the same terminal window, which is extremely useful for comparing network paths or diagnosing routing issues.
  • Cross-platform support
    gping is available on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and can be installed via popular package managers like Homebrew, Chocolatey, Scoop, and various Linux package managers, making it accessible on virtually any platform.
  • Simple and intuitive CLI
    The tool is very easy to use with minimal configuration required. Just run 'gping <host>' and you immediately get a useful visual output. The command-line flags are straightforward and well-documented.
  • Supports arbitrary command graphing
    Beyond just pinging hosts, gping can graph the execution time of arbitrary commands using the --cmd flag, making it a versatile tool for monitoring the performance of any repeatable command over time.

Possible disadvantages of gping (CLI)

  • Requires installation of additional binary
    Unlike the standard ping command which is pre-installed on virtually every operating system, gping must be separately downloaded and installed, which may not be feasible in locked-down or minimal server environments.
  • Limited data export and logging
    gping is primarily a visual tool and lacks robust options for exporting ping data to files or structured formats (like CSV or JSON) for later analysis, making it less suitable for long-term monitoring or automated reporting.
  • Terminal size dependency
    The quality and usefulness of the graph depends heavily on terminal window size. In small terminal windows, the graph can become compressed and hard to read, losing much of the visual advantage over standard ping.
  • No alerting or threshold features
    gping does not support configuring alerts or notifications when latency exceeds a certain threshold or packet loss occurs, limiting its usefulness as a proactive monitoring tool compared to dedicated network monitoring solutions.
  • Resource overhead compared to standard ping
    As a graphical TUI application, gping consumes more CPU and memory than the standard ping utility. While generally negligible on modern systems, this can matter on resource-constrained embedded devices or when running many instances.

Analysis of SmokePing

Overall verdict

  • Yes, SmokePing is a well-regarded tool for network monitoring, especially for those who need to track latency and network stability over time. Its capabilities in visualizing and analyzing network performance make it a valuable asset for IT professionals and network administrators.

Why this product is good

  • SmokePing is a highly effective latency monitoring tool that provides valuable insights into network performance. It utilizes a simple ping system to measure and visualize latency, packet loss, and network stability over time. The tool's graphing capabilities are particularly praised for their clarity and detail. Additionally, it supports integration with a wide range of platforms and offers customization options to suit different network monitoring needs.

Recommended for

    Network administrators, IT professionals, businesses looking to monitor network latency and performance, and technical users who need detailed insights into network stability.

Analysis of gping (CLI)

Overall verdict

  • gping is an excellent, lightweight open-source CLI tool that modernizes the classic ping command by adding a real-time graphical visualization of latency directly in your terminal, making it a favorite among developers and sysadmins.

Why this product is good

  • Displays ping latency as a live, scrolling graph right in the terminal for easy visual analysis
  • Supports pinging multiple hosts simultaneously and comparing their latency side by side
  • Cross-platform support for Linux, macOS, and Windows
  • Written in Rust, making it fast, efficient, and reliable
  • Free and open-source with an active community and simple installation via common package managers
  • Can execute commands and graph their execution time, not just network pings

Recommended for

  • Network engineers and system administrators troubleshooting connectivity or latency issues
  • Developers who want a quick visual sense of network performance
  • Users who need to compare latency across multiple hosts at once
  • Anyone comfortable working in the command line who wants a more informative alternative to traditional ping

SmokePing videos

Smokeping

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Install and Config SmokePing on Ubuntu Server 16.04
  • Tutorial - How to Install & Integrate Smokeping into Librenms with Nginx on Ubuntu

gping (CLI) videos

No gping (CLI) videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SmokePing and gping (CLI))
Monitoring Tools
89 89%
11% 11
OS & Utilities
83 83%
17% 17
Security
79 79%
21% 21
Log Management
0 0%
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 SmokePing and gping (CLI)

SmokePing Reviews

  1. Stan
    ยท Founder at SaaSHub ยท
    Such a helpful tool

    Smokeping used to be one of my favourity tools when I was working as a SysAdmin long time ago. It's offers such a clever way of presenting the data, that it is super easy to identify any issues.

    I still wonder why modern tools haven't adopted this ingenious technique.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Usability
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Not actively maintained

gping (CLI) Reviews

We have no reviews of gping (CLI) yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SmokePing seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 28 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.

SmokePing mentions (28)

  • Show HN: I built a tool that texts you if your server goes down
    This is cool. I did something similar at my work using smokeping and the #@vtext.com to send the texts. https://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Anyone else using unifi to track the isp outages?
    I'd recommend setting up SmokePing or Vaping to get a better idea of latency and connectivity. Source: about 3 years ago
  • N-Central, Connectivity Service and 15 minute minimums, oh my!
    Let me introduce you to a rather old, but still highly useful, tool for free. Takes a little leg work to get going, but pays off in style. https://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Is there any way to fix packet loss!?
    So I would run Smoke Ping (https://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/) for a while to get an idea of the loss. If it really is an external issue, you can try a VPN to hopefully pickup a different route. Source: about 3 years ago
  • lightweight monitoring tool
    I personally like smokeping, https://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/ . Has lots of different probes so you can do more than just "ping if it is alive". Source: about 3 years ago
View more

gping (CLI) mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of gping (CLI) yet. Tracking of gping (CLI) recommendations started around Mar 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing SmokePing and gping (CLI), you can also consider the following products

Ping Meter Gadget - Customizable, graphical, semi-transparent ping (latency) meter.

PingPlotter - PingPlotter is a troubleshooting tool that helps IT professionals and neophytes identify, diagnose, and resolve network issues.

Fping (open source) - fping is a program to send ICMP echo probes to network hosts, similar to ping, but much better performing when pinging multiple hosts.

PingInfoView - PingInfoView is a small utility that allows you to easily ping multiple host names and IP addresses, and watch the result in one table.

Open Nettest - Open Nettest is a platform for collecting, processing and visualizing data related QoS and QoE.

Ping Monitor - A powerful ping observing apparatus for programmed checking conneon with system has.