vnStat

Spec sheet

Purpose

vnStat is a console-based network traffic monitor that logs traffic for selected interfaces.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Security

Because vnStat reads kernel-provided interface statistics, the maker says it does not sniff network traffic.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Support

The maker suggests GitHub for bug reports, improvement ideas, feature requests, and pull requests, and also lists email and IRC contact options.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Data editing

The FAQ says no vnStat-specific database editor is available and suggests using sqlite3 to read or modify the database.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Data source

It uses network interface statistics provided by the kernel and does not sniff traffic.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Estimate limitation

The FAQ says traffic estimates work fairly well when interface traffic stays at a similar magnitude and cannot predict peaks.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

History

It provides summary, five-minute, hourly, daily, monthly, yearly, and top-days statistics.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Installation

The maker offers source for Linux and BSD, plus links to Docker and Snap distributions.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Integrity check

The repository's getting-started instructions describe optional GPG verification of the stable release archive and its signature.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Interfaces

It can monitor multiple network interfaces at the same time.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Output

It supports text output, JSON and XML database output, alerts, and optional image output when the GD Graphics Library is installed.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Resource use

The maker says vnStat uses system resources lightly regardless of network traffic rate.Read 4 Oct 2026 · humdi.net

Retention

Data retention duration is configurable; the repository README gives defaults of five-minute data for 48 hours, hourly data for four days, daily data for two full months, and yearly data forever.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Every vnStat plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Bandwidth Monitoring Software#28 of 337.1