Alternatives to Advanced Port Scanner
A free Windows port scanner that finds open ports and identifies the programs running on them. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Advanced Port Scanner
A free Windows port scanner that finds open ports and identifies the programs running on them.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Advanced Port Scanner.
Nmap
The network mapper: find out which hosts are up, which ports are open and what is listening on them.
Nmap adds OS fingerprinting and a scripting engine, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and uses a custom non-OSI licence instead of closed freeware.
Angry IP Scanner
A fast, friendly IP and port scanner that needs no installation and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Angry IP Scanner is open source under GPL-2.0 and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but finds hosts and open ports without identifying program versions.
Zenmap
The official cross-platform graphical interface for the Nmap network scanner.
Zenmap gives a graphical front end to Nmap on Windows, macOS and Linux, with saved scan profiles and scan comparison, but needs Nmap installed.
SoftPerfect Network Scanner
A multi-threaded IPv4 and IPv6 scanner that finds network devices, open ports and shared folders.
SoftPerfect Network Scanner requires a paid licence, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and queries devices over WMI, SNMP, HTTP, SSH and PowerShell.
RustScan
Discover open ports with a configurable scanner written in Rust.
RustScan is an open-source GPL-3.0 command-line port scanner for Windows, macOS and Linux that supports follow-up scripts, with no graphical interface.
Naabu
Discover listening network ports with a command-line scanner.
Naabu is an MIT-licensed command-line port scanner for Windows, macOS and Linux with several scan methods and optional Nmap integration, but no graphical window.
masscan
Scan large sets of IP addresses for open ports.
masscan is an AGPL-3.0 command-line scanner for macOS and Linux built for large address sets, so Windows users lose the native graphical tool.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Advanced IP Scanner
Scans a home or office network and lists every device with its name, MAC address and shared folders.
ZMap
A fast single-packet network scanner designed for surveys across very large address ranges.
Npcap
Windows packet capture driver used by Wireshark, Nmap and similar tools.
hping3
Packet crafting tool for TCP/IP testing and probing.
netcat
The original TCP and UDP swiss army knife.
