iftop vs Nethogs

Struggling to choose between iftop and Nethogs? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

iftop is a Network & Admin solution with tags like network, monitoring, bandwidth, tcpip, connections, realtime.

It boasts features such as Displays bandwidth usage on selected network interface, Shows both inbound and outbound traffic, Can filter by IP address or network port, Real-time monitoring and stats, Text-based interface for terminal/CLI use and pros including Free and open source, Lightweight and low resource usage, Easy to use with no configuration needed, Good for identifying bandwidth hogs and monitoring network usage, Works on Linux, Unix, and BSD systems.

On the other hand, Nethogs is a Network & Admin product tagged with bandwidth, network, monitoring, linux.

Its standout features include Monitors bandwidth usage per process in real time, Displays network usage in a terminal using a text-based user interface, Shows program name, PID, sent/received data, and total usage, Can filter processes by name or PID, Lightweight and non-intrusive, and it shines with pros like Easy to use and understand, Provides granular visibility into bandwidth usage, Helpful for identifying and troubleshooting network hogs, Works on most Linux distributions without setup.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

iftop

iftop

iftop is an open source command-line tool used to monitor network usage and bandwidth in real-time. It displays a table of current TCP/IP connections using bandwidth over a specified interface.

Categories:
network monitoring bandwidth tcpip connections realtime

Iftop Features

  1. Displays bandwidth usage on selected network interface
  2. Shows both inbound and outbound traffic
  3. Can filter by IP address or network port
  4. Real-time monitoring and stats
  5. Text-based interface for terminal/CLI use

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Lightweight and low resource usage

Easy to use with no configuration needed

Good for identifying bandwidth hogs and monitoring network usage

Works on Linux, Unix, and BSD systems

Cons

Terminal-only, no GUI

Can only monitor one interface at a time

Not as feature-rich as commercial bandwidth monitors

Requires some Linux/Unix command line knowledge to use

Does not work on Windows


Nethogs

Nethogs

Nethogs is a Linux tool that provides real-time network traffic usage by process. It shows bandwidth usage on a per-process basis in an easy to understand format.

Categories:
bandwidth network monitoring linux

Nethogs Features

  1. Monitors bandwidth usage per process in real time
  2. Displays network usage in a terminal using a text-based user interface
  3. Shows program name, PID, sent/received data, and total usage
  4. Can filter processes by name or PID
  5. Lightweight and non-intrusive

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Easy to use and understand

Provides granular visibility into bandwidth usage

Helpful for identifying and troubleshooting network hogs

Works on most Linux distributions without setup

Cons

Terminal-only interface lacks graphical view

Can only monitor bandwidth usage, not other metrics

Requires root access to monitor all processes

Not well-suited for remote monitoring