Masscan vs NetsCLI
Masscan
github.comNetsCLI
netscli.comSide by side
| Figure | Masscan | NetsCLI |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Port Scanner Software | 8.7 (#2) | 8.3 (#5) |
| Integrations | The project describes PF_RING DNA support for high-speed packet transmission and says Masscan can use PF_RING ZC when the adapter name indicates it. | The MCP server runs over stdio and exposes structured tools for network discovery, scanning, ping, DNS, ARP, host inspection, sweeps, interfaces, and mDNS discovery. |
| Maker | The repository credits Robert David Graham as the creator and gives his contact email and @ErrataRob account. | The site credits Felix Stubner as the maker. |
| Platforms | Linux is the primary target; the code also runs on Windows and macOS, and the README gives build instructions for FreeBSD. | The CLI and terminal UI are published for Windows, macOS, and Linux; the desktop app is available for those systems as well. |
| Purpose | Masscan is an Internet-scale TCP port scanner designed for wide-range scanning of many machines. | NetsCLI is an open-source Rust network scanner for discovering LAN hosts, scanning TCP and UDP ports, querying DNS, and inspecting hosts. |
Plans
In their own words
Masscan
Masscan is a free command-line TCP port scanner for scanning many machines across wide address ranges. The project says one machine can transmit 10 million packets per second. It supports asynchronous transmission, arbitrary port and address ranges, and scanning IPv4 and IPv6 together without a separate IPv6 mode. Banner checks cover protocols and services including FTP, HTTP, IMAP4, memcached, POP3, SMTP, SSH, SSL, SMBv1, SMBv2, Telnet, RDP and VNC. Results can be saved as XML, binary, grepable, JSON or list output. Its usage and output are intended to be familiar to Nmap users, with some Nmap-compatible options. Masscan runs on Linux, macOS and Windows and is available for self-hosting. The project describes PF_RING DNA support for high-speed transmission and says it can use PF_RING ZC when the adapter name indicates it. It is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3, whose notice states there is no warranty. Users must specify ports and target IP addresses or simple ranges; DNS names are not accepted. The README warns that its custom TCP/IP stack can conflict with the local stack and describes using a separate source IP or firewalling its source port.
NetsCLI
NetsCLI is an open-source network scanner for discovering LAN devices, scanning TCP and UDP ports, querying DNS, and inspecting hosts. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with a desktop app, terminal UI, command-line interface, and MCP server built on one Rust core. The desktop app supports multiple investigation tabs, sortable and filterable results, exports, and scan history. Discovery can add reverse DNS, ARP cache details, MAC addresses, and device makers when the operating system has that information. Network operations in the CLI support JSON and YAML output; list commands also support CSV and Markdown. The MCP server runs over stdio and exposes structured network tools to compatible AI clients, including Claude Code and Cursor. NetsCLI is MIT-licensed and free for personal, open-source, and commercial use. Its binaries and installers are said to be checksummed and signed with Sigstore cosign. Packet capture requires separate downloads and libpcap on Linux or macOS, or Npcap on Windows. It does not provide remote administration and lacks advanced service detection, NSE scripts, and OS fingerprinting.