Alternatives to bandwhich
Terminal tool that shows current network use broken down by process and connection. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
bandwhich
Terminal tool that shows current network use broken down by process and connection.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as bandwhich.
RustNet
Terminal network monitor showing live connections per process with packet inspection.
RustNet shows live per-process connections with protocol detection and packet inspection, is sandboxed by default, and is actively developed under Apache-2.0 rather than MIT.
Sniffnet
Shows what your machine is actually talking to, with charts instead of a wall of packets.
Sniffnet replaces the terminal view with a graphical app of charts and per-host statistics, adds notifications and PCAP export, and has no CLI or Android build.
TCPView
Sysinternals viewer for active TCP and UDP endpoints on Windows.
TCPView lists endpoints with their owning process and can close connections on Windows, but it is closed-source freeware with no bandwidth figures or history.
NetBalancer
Per-process network monitoring and bandwidth limiting for Windows.
NetBalancer monitors traffic per process on Windows and can also limit bandwidth, but it is closed source and the free edition limits the number of rules.
NetHogs
Linux terminal tool that shows network bandwidth usage grouped by process, like top for traffic.
NetHogs also groups live bandwidth by process in a terminal, but it runs only on Linux and does not break usage down by connection.
NetLimiter
Per-application bandwidth limiter that stops background traffic from spiking your ping.
NetLimiter is paid Windows software that combines real-time per-application monitoring with bandwidth limiting, replacing a free cross-platform terminal tool with a closed-source desktop app.
Also worth comparing
These listings name bandwhich as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
bmon
A terminal bandwidth monitor that shows live traffic rates for each network interface.
bandwhich is MIT-licensed, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and breaks traffic down by process and connection instead of by interface.
IPTraf-ng
A console-based network monitor for Linux that shows live IP traffic statistics by connection and interface.
bandwhich is MIT-licensed, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and attributes bandwidth to the process and connection using it.
TapMap
Shows the services your computer connects to on a world map.
bandwhich is a terminal tool that breaks down current network use by process and connection, showing bandwidth figures instead of a world map.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Wireshark
The network protocol analyser: capture traffic and read it packet by packet, with dissectors for hundreds of protocols.
tcpdump
The classic command-line packet capture and analysis tool.
vnStat
A console network traffic monitor for Linux and BSD that logs interface usage over time.
TrafficMonitor
A Windows floating window and taskbar widget showing network speed, CPU, memory and temperatures.
EtherApe
A graphical network monitor that draws live network activity as a diagram of hosts and links.
