PCAPdroid vs Termshark

PCAPdroid is an open-source Android network capture and monitoring tool that works without root privileges. It uses Android VpnService to receive app traffic, then processes it locally without creating an external VPN. Its connection view shows protocol, ports, addresses, status and traffic volume. Captures can be saved as PCAP files or sent remotely for analysis, and the app supports offline trace analysis, display filters and command-line capture. It can decrypt HTTPS/TLS traffic for a specific app, subject to Android certificate trust limitations. The free plan covers core monitoring and capture; paid features add a firewall for blocking apps, domains and IP addresses with configurable rules and allowlists, as well as malware detection using third-party blacklists and PCAPng format. PCAPdroid supports real-time PCAP-over-IP analysis with tools such as Wireshark, ntopng and tcpdump. In non-root mode it captures only outgoing connections started by the device running it, not traffic from other devices on the network. The project says it collects no information and processes traffic locally.

Termshark is a terminal interface for tshark, inspired by Wireshark, for inspecting saved packet captures and live network traffic. It can read pcap files and sniff live interfaces when tshark permits, then apply Wireshark display filters to either. Users can inspect and reassemble TCP and UDP flows, search packets, copy packet ranges, and view conversations involving Ethernet, IPv4, IPv6, UDP, and TCP. Version 2.4 added packet search and profiles for colors and columns. It supports 16-color, 256-color, and truecolor terminal modes. The project lists Linux, macOS, BSD variants, Android through Termux, and Windows, with precompiled executables available through GitHub releases. Termshark is aimed at remote debugging where a large capture can be examined on the remote machine rather than copied to a desktop. It is free and MIT licensed. Packet analysis requires tshark 1.10.2 or newer in PATH; the project notes that tshark has features Termshark does not expose.