NetsCLI vs Sherlock Forensics Port Scanner

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.

Sherlock Forensics Port Scanner is a free desktop GUI tool for identifying exposed TCP ports and the services behind them. It scans the top 1,000 TCP ports by default, accepts custom port and CIDR ranges, and can scan all 65,535 TCP ports. For open ports, it retrieves service banners to identify software and version strings. Scans use TCP connect with the full three-way handshake; SYN scans are not supported. Results export to CSV with timestamps, target host, port, protocol, state and service identification. Each export includes an Ed25519-signed sidecar with the CSV’s SHA-256, signature, per-installation public key and UTC timestamp. The scanner identifies ports and services but does not check results against CVE databases or attempt exploitation. It runs on Windows and Linux. Version 0.1.7 supports 64-bit Windows 10/11 as a single executable without installation dependencies or elevated privileges; the native Linux x64 binary requires libgtk-3, libfontconfig1 and libxkbcommon. The free plan has no trial period, feature restrictions or expiry.