PcapAI vs Wireshark

PcapAI analyzes PCAP and PCAPNG network captures and creates security reports. Its machine-learning models evaluate packet context and relate findings to MITRE ATT&CK techniques. Reports are downloadable PDFs with risk scores, packet evidence, findings, and remediation steps. The service detects plaintext credentials, NTLM hashes, Kerberos tickets, and session tokens, then masks discovered credentials in reports. It also surfaces retransmissions, per-flow latency, TCP Zero Window events, and ARP conflicts. The homepage offers free uploads without an account; compressed archives are not accepted, and file-size limits vary by plan. Options include web, API, Windows, macOS, Linux, and self-hosted use. An open-source MCP Server supports local analysis with AI assistants such as Claude Desktop; the maker says packet data stays on the device. The Advanced plan includes API access, and the maker describes sending findings to Splunk, Elastic SIEM, or Microsoft Sentinel. Pricing includes a $9.00 USD one-time Single Report, monthly and annual plans, and one-time packs.

Wireshark is a free network protocol analyzer for capturing and examining network traffic. It supports live capture and offline analysis through a graphical interface or the TShark terminal utility, and can inspect hundreds of protocols. Display filters narrow what appears during analysis, though their syntax differs from capture filters. Wireshark reads and writes capture formats including pcap and pcapng, and can decompress gzip-compressed files. Analysis features include VoIP tools, packet coloring rules, and exports to XML, PostScript, CSV, or plain text. It can decrypt traffic for protocols including IPsec, Kerberos, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2. The software is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows under GNU General Public License version 2, with no license fee for the full version. Windows packages include Npcap, which is needed for live packet capture. What a capture can show depends on the operating system, capture library, network interface, and network configuration; switched networks may not expose unicast traffic between other ports. Community help is available through a Q&A site and users mailing list.