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.

Feature	iftop	Nethogs
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Network & Admin	Network & Admin

Product Overview

iftop

Description: 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.

Nethogs

Description: 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.

Key Features Comparison

iftop Features

• 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

Nethogs Features

• 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

Pros & Cons Analysis

iftop

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

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

Pricing Comparison

iftop

• Open Source

Nethogs

• Open Source