Free Network Monitoring Tools
Network monitoring tools show what is on your network, what it talks to, and when traffic patterns turn abnormal. The free tools listed here help small businesses keep the accurate asset picture that nearly every security framework depends on.
- 15 free solutions listed
- Free for startups & SMBs
- Curated by certified experts
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Zabbix
Network MonitoringEnterprise-class open-source monitoring solution for networks and applications
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PRTG
Network MonitoringNetwork monitoring software with free tier for up to 100 sensors
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LibreNMS
Network MonitoringAuto-discovering open-source network monitoring system with alerting
Fing
Network MonitoringFing is a complete network monitoring solution for home and small offices that catalogs and secures your devices in one click.
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Zeek (formerly Bro)
Network MonitoringZeek is a network analysis framework that focuses on network security monitoring. Zeek provides a platform for general network traffic analysis while bridging the gap between academic opinions of security and operational security.
Nagios
Network MonitoringNagios is an open source application that provides monitoring tools to assess networks, traffic, and applications. The application looks for problems caused by overloaded data links, network connections, routers, and switches.
Aircrack-ng
Network MonitoringAircrack-ng is a set of network tools that include a scanner, packet sniffer, wireless security cracker, and analysis tools for WEP and WPA/WPA2-PSK protocols. All tools included based within a command-line and focus on Linux.
Wireshark
Network MonitoringWireshark is a network protocol analyzer and packet sniffer. Wireshark is used to see all information that is moving across your network. This is useful for network troubleshooting and network analysis. Wireshark includes filters that show particular types of data and protocols as it passes across your network; giving you control and insight into what's happening at all levels of your company's network.
Telerik Fiddler
Network MonitoringFiddler logs all HTTP and HTTPS traffic between a user and the internet. Users can review this information to debug traffic from virtually any application that supports a proxy.
OpenNMS
Network MonitoringOpenNMS is an open source network service management platform for enterprises. Their tool alerts staff of security issues and gives admins the ability to add and removes devices from their network.
ROCK NSM
Network MonitoringRockNSM is a platform for security monitoring and incident response. The tool identifies if a network passively collects data and it gives administrators the tools to monitor and analyze security issues. RockNSM is a scalable platform that meets the operational needs of security administrators.
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Real Intelligence Threat Analytics (RITA)
Network MonitoringRITA is an open source framework for network traffic analysis. The framework supports beacon detection, DNS tunneling, and blacklist checking.
What Network Monitoring Tools Do
Network monitoring tools show what is on your network, what it talks to, and when traffic patterns turn abnormal. They discover devices and services, track bandwidth and latency, alert when a host goes down or a new device appears, and provide the accurate asset inventory that nearly every security framework starts with.
You cannot protect what you do not know you have. The free tools on this page cover network discovery and mapping, uptime and performance monitoring, flow analysis to see who is talking to whom, and dashboards that give a small IT team the same visibility a larger one gets from a paid NOC platform.
How to Choose a Network Monitoring Tool
- Start with discovery; a tool that produces a current inventory of devices and open services pays for itself in the first audit.
- Choose flow or packet analysis if you need to see data leaving the network, not only whether hosts are up.
- Prefer agentless monitoring for network gear and agents for servers, and make sure both feed one dashboard.
- Set alert thresholds that reflect your normal baseline, or the tool becomes noise nobody reads.
Need help with Network Monitoring?
IRM builds the asset inventory and monitoring baseline that CIS Controls 1 and 2 require.
Security Architecture ServicesCheck your readiness first
Free, no signup, runs in your browser. Score your gaps and download a remediation roadmap.
Free CIS Controls Gap AssessmentNetwork Monitoring Tools: Frequently Asked Questions
Why is an asset inventory the first security control?
Because every other control depends on it: you cannot patch, monitor, or restrict access to a device you do not know exists. CIS Controls 1 and 2 (enterprise and software asset inventory) are first for that reason, and the free discovery tools on this page are how small teams build it.
Is network monitoring still relevant for a cloud-only company?
Yes, in a different form: cloud flow logs, VPC monitoring, and service dependency maps replace switch ports and taps. Several free tools here support cloud flow logs, and the office or home networks staff work from still matter.
How is network monitoring different from intrusion detection?
Monitoring tells you what is normal (devices, traffic volumes, availability). Intrusion detection looks for the specific patterns of an attack inside that traffic. A good monitoring baseline makes intrusion detection far more accurate.
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