--- title: Wireshark Reviews meta_title: 'Wireshark Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 152 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Wireshark works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.7 review_count: 152 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: Network Security url: https://www.g2.com/categories/network-security --- # Wireshark Reviews **Vendor:** Wireshark **Category:** [Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/network-traffic-analysis-nta) **Average Rating:** 4.7/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 152 ## About Wireshark Wireshark is a open-source network protocol analyzer that enables users to capture and interactively examine the traffic traversing a computer network. It provides deep insights into network communications, making it an essential tool for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol development, and educational purposes. Wireshark is cross-platform, running on Windows, macOS, Linux, and various UNIX systems. Key Features and Functionality: - Comprehensive Protocol Support: Wireshark offers deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with new ones continually being added. - Live Capture and Offline Analysis: Users can capture live network data or analyze previously saved capture files. - Multi-Platform Compatibility: The software operates on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and NetBSD. - Advanced Display Filters: Wireshark provides powerful display filters, allowing users to focus on specific traffic patterns. - Rich VoIP Analysis: It includes tools for analyzing Voice over IP (VoIP) communications. - Support for Various Capture File Formats: Wireshark can read and write numerous capture file formats, such as tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, and others. - Decryption Capabilities: The tool supports decryption for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2. - Customizable Coloring Rules: Users can apply coloring rules to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysis. Primary Value and Problem Solving: Wireshark addresses the critical need for in-depth network analysis by providing a detailed view of network traffic at a microscopic level. This capability is invaluable for network professionals, security experts, developers, and educators who require precise insights into network behavior. By facilitating the identification and resolution of network issues, Wireshark enhances network performance, security, and reliability. Its open-source nature ensures continuous improvement and adaptability to emerging networking technologies and protocols. ## Wireshark Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users appreciate the **ease of use** of Wireshark, making data capture and network monitoring effortless. (7 reviews) - Users value the **insightful analysis** capabilities of Wireshark, enhancing their ability to understand data packets efficiently. (5 reviews) - Users praise Wireshark for its **easy monitoring** , facilitating efficient packet capturing and network analysis. (3 reviews) - Users value the **effective monitoring** capabilities of Wireshark, facilitating troubleshooting and network analysis with precision. (3 reviews) - Users value the **reliability** of Wireshark for accurate network analysis and effective troubleshooting. (3 reviews) - Users value the **deep packet inspection and real-time capture** features of Wireshark for effective network analysis. (2 reviews) - Users value Wireshark's **detailed analysis capabilities** , enabling effective troubleshooting and customization for network issues. (2 reviews) - Time-Saving (2 reviews) - User Interface (2 reviews) - Comprehensive Monitoring (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the **display issues** with Wireshark's UI challenging, hindering the debugging process and data visualization. (3 reviews) - Users find Wireshark's **difficult learning process** challenging due to its complex interface and need for technical knowledge. (2 reviews) - Users find the **learning curve steep** , as Wireshark is complex and requires advanced knowledge for effective navigation. (2 reviews) - Users find the **missing features** of Wireshark, like outdated UI, hinder effective debugging and data analysis. (2 reviews) - Users experience **slow performance** while working with large datasets, impacting efficiency and usability of Wireshark. (2 reviews) - Users find Wireshark's **complexity overwhelming** , especially for beginners, due to its steep learning curve and cluttered interface. (1 reviews) - Users find it challenging to view captured data packets due to **complex filters and options** in Wireshark. (1 reviews) - Device Limitations (1 reviews) - High Resource Usage (1 reviews) - Integration Issues (1 reviews) ## Wireshark Reviews ### 1. Great Tool For Understanding Low-level Network **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer & Network Security | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 09, 2015 **What do you like best about Wireshark?** The power of the tool- watch traffic, record the sample, and analyse it using various filters. One can go as deep (low-level) as necessary. **What do you dislike about Wireshark?** The user interface could be more intuitive. **Recommendations to others considering Wireshark:** Very powerful and does exactly what you need. **What problems is Wireshark solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mostly for debugging purposes and understanding network issues on a local network. ### 2. Wireshark network data analyzer **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alex T. | Identity and Access Management Engineer, Human Resources, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 23, 2014 **What do you like best about Wireshark?** The amount of information available and all their tools around packet analyzing , filters to help pinpoint problems and find issues **What do you dislike about Wireshark?** There is a larger learning curve but once you get there it's a great tool. Interface can use an upgrade as it's a bit confusing to some , and perhaps a lite version for not so advanced uses. **Recommendations to others considering Wireshark:** Gives you more than you want but it's great, not for a novice in networking field. **What problems is Wireshark solving and how is that benefiting you?** Analyzing network traffic to troubleshoot problem items. Solved many problems using this tool that would never have been found. ## Wireshark Discussions - [Is it unethical or illegal to use wireshark?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/12063-is-it-unethical-or-illegal-to-use-wireshark) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [View Wireshark pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/wireshark/reviews?page=4§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-07+10%3A15%3A31+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=cf607c76-46c1-4bcb-b1be-1a235d11ff38&secure%5Btoken%5D=2b41c1969dbe93652a1585f9a539101a1c770366591010314bd5739803decf80&format=llm_user) ## Wireshark Features **Additional Functionality** - Penetration Testing - Alerts/Notifications - Audit Trail - Anti Virus - Vulnerability Scanning - Remote Monitoring & Management - VPN - Behavior Analytics - Reporting/Analytics - Real-Time Notifications - Access Controls/Permissions - SSL Security - Patch Management - Event Logs - Anomaly/Malware Detection - DNS Leak Protection - Third-Party Integrations - Server Monitoring - Real-Time Monitoring - Compliance Management - Network Provisioning - API - Email Alerts - Security Auditing - Intrusion Detection System - Data Visualization - Two-Factor Authentication - Generative AI - Firewalls - AI Copilot - Anti Spam - Threat Response - Activity Monitoring - Risk Alerts - Data Loss Prevention - Single Sign On - Intrusion Prevention System - Secure Login - Policy Management - Activity Dashboard **Automation** - Metadata Management - Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning - Response Automation - Continuous Analysis **Functionality** - Multi-Network Capability - Anomaly Detection - Network Visibility - Scalability **Incident Management** - Incident Logs - Incident Alerts - Incident Reporting ## Top Wireshark Alternatives - [Datadog](https://www.g2.com/products/datadog/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (715 reviews) - [Progress WhatsUp Gold](https://www.g2.com/products/progress-whatsup-gold/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (381 reviews) - [Coralogix](https://www.g2.com/products/coralogix/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (339 reviews)