Wireshark
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 3 packet analyzers
Free, widely used packet analyzer that decodes many protocols and shows network traffic in detail. Critics say some protocol dissectors are immature and it is hard to learn.
Free, widely used packet analyzer that decodes many protocols and shows network traffic in detail. Critics say some protocol dissectors are immature and it is hard to learn.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 68%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Debugging and traffic inspection
“great for debugging and traffic inspection”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Cerberus – Real-time network monitor with eBPF” “Pulled out good ol' wireshark. It's the server that's erroring on the TLS handshake.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “I created a publishing system for step-by-step coding guides in Typst” “I currently do all this with my laptop and wireshark, it just takes time”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “Flipper One Tech Specs” Strong protocol decoding and dissectors
“The Wireshark dissectors are quite mature, SSH is covered fairly well.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Why does SSH send 100 packets per keystroke?” “Wireshark's protocol decoder is more advanced than tcpflow.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Small programming tricks” “This is how it handles TLS decryption [1], which works beautifully.”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Why does SSH send 100 packets per keystroke?” Powerful and well regarded
“Wireshark is extremely powerful and useful but it lives in a completely different category of tools”
Comment from 20 Dec 2025 in “Charles Proxy” “Wireshark is a modern marvel and we all have decent hardware.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “I Cannot SSH into My Server Anymore (and That's Fine)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dissectors not fully mature
“the dissector is not as mature as I thought”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Why does SSH send 100 packets per keystroke?” “the dissectors aren't very mature - you only get valid parsing up to the KeX completion messages (NEWKEYS)”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Why does SSH send 100 packets per keystroke?” Steep learning curve, overwhelming output
“wireshark gives you everything and lets you drown in it”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Babyshark – Wireshark made easy (terminal UI for PCAPs)” “that is too generic and with a bigger learning curve”
Comment from 20 Dec 2025 in “Charles Proxy” “I currently do all this with my laptop and wireshark, it just takes time”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “Flipper One Tech Specs”
Other packet analyzers people recommend
The two most recommended other packet analyzers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 packet analyzers, rankedWhat people said
28 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“stuff like wireshark and imhex remain vulnerable, even on their latest repo commits”
“You'd need a packet sniffer. Wireshark or similar.”
“Wireshark's protocol decoder is more advanced than tcpflow.”
“analyze it with wireshark”
“Wireshark and prior art from SANE got me most of the way”
“get a package tool like wireshark”
“It's possible, but not easy.”
“something similar to Wireshark but easier to read and understand”
“I just figured I was wasting so much time in there”
“But that dynamism really helped with the early stages along with wireshark”
“Wireshark was very simple to use”
“I currently do all this with my laptop and wireshark, it just takes time”
“being able to use wireshark to dump traffic over network/bluetooth/usb is VERY helpful if you don't have the source code”
“the Wireshark Flatpak can't capture packets, which makes it useless in common scenarios”
“wireshark gives you everything and lets you drown in it”
“The current accessibility is unfortunately poor.”
“I found it frustrating for reasons I can't remember”
“This is how it handles TLS decryption [1], which works beautifully.”
“the dissector is not as mature as I thought”
“the dissectors aren't very mature - you only get valid parsing up to the KeX completion messages (NEWKEYS)”
“The Wireshark dissectors are quite mature, SSH is covered fairly well.”
“even wireshark won't detect anything for debugging”
“Wireshark is a modern marvel and we all have decent hardware.”
“For me it happens when I forget Wireshark running for a bit too long”
“great for debugging and traffic inspection”
“Wireshark is extremely powerful and useful but it lives in a completely different category of tools”
“that is too generic and with a bigger learning curve”
“Pulled out good ol' wireshark. It's the server that's erroring on the TLS handshake.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.