Port Scanners are an important tool when you want to investigate any remote or local network for security considerations.

Used by programmers and network administrators, these port scanners are used to mainly know what ports are being used by what applications, so you can identify malicious programs right away.

These port scanners can also be used to assess the strength of your security policies.

Due to their usefulness, there are many port scanner applications available today. But all are not created the same.

To help you navigate through this world of port scanners, we present to you some of the best ones that come with a host of features.

Here’s our list of the Top Port Scanners for Scanning Open Ports/Services

They come with a ton of features designed to reduce the time and effort needed in scanning every port within your network.

1. SolarWinds Open Port Scanner with Engineer’s Toolset – FREE TOOL This scanner will run through a given IP address range, identify addresses in use, and then scan all of the ports within a second given range to identify their statuses. Installs on Windows and Windows Server. Start a 14-day free trial.
2. ManageEngine OpUtils – FREE TRIAL A package of tools that cover all issues related to communication addressing and that includes ports. This software includes a port scanner and will run on Windows Server and Linux. Get a 30-day free trial.
3. Advanced IP Scanner This free IP address discovery tool will also check for the availability of a limited number of resources on a computer, hence whether those ports are open. Installs on Windows.
4. Angry IP Scanner This free IP address discovery system will scan each discovered device and count the number of open ports. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
5. Nmap A well-respected free command line tool to discover IP addresses and then lets you issue a port scan on a specific target. Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Unix.
6. NetCat A network tool that can be used for hacking or penetration testing that includes a port scanning function. Runs on Windows, Linux, Unix, and macOS. The tool is pre-installed on macOS and Kali Linux.
7. LanSweeper IP Scanner This network detection system will scan a limited number of ports for its own administration and can work with port scans imported from Nmap. Runs on Windows and Windows Server.
8. MyLanViewer Network/IP Scanner A free network discovery tool that includes a number of network functions but doesn’t have a port scanner. Runs on Windows and Windows Server.
9. Slitheris Network Discovery This tool documents network attributes of devices including IP addresses but doesn’t have a port scanner. Available for Windows or in a portable format.

The best Port Scanners for Scanning for Open Ports/Service

What should you look for in port scanning tools? 

We reviewed the market for port scanners that will work on Windows and Linux and analyzed tools based on the following criteria: 

• The option to scan one device or many
• A report on which ports are open
• A system that focuses on the most important ports
• Integration with network scanning that performs device discovery
• A tabulated results list that can be exported
• A free trial for a no-obligation assessment period or a free tool
• A paid tool that is worth the money or a free tool that is worth using

With these selection criteria in mind, we looked for a variety of port scanners that will give you a quick assessment of the vulnerability of your devices and we made sure to include some free options.

Let’s take a detailed look into the features, pricing and download options for each of these tools and where to download them!

1. SolarWinds Open Port Scanner – FREE TRIAL

SolarWinds Open Port Scanner with Engineer’s Toolset is part of a comprehensive package of more than 60 system monitoring and management tools. 

This utility saves you time by combining both an IP address scanner with its port checker. You enter a range of IP addresses to scan and the results will show you which addresses in that range are in use. It will then look through the ports within a second given range and identify those that are open.

Key Features: The features of SolarWinds Open Port Scanner are:

• Identifies IP addresses in use
• Scans ports within a given range
• Lets you control the range of addresses to scan and the range of ports to scan
• Option to examine the ports on just one device
• Reports on port statuses: open, closed, and filtered
• On-demands scans
• Exports the scanned results to various formats such as XML, XLSX, and CSV.
• Resolves to device hostnames from the DNS server
• Runs on Windows Server

Pricing: Start with a 14-day free trial.

Download: You can download SolarWinds Port Scanner and the entire Engineer’s Toolset from https://www.solarwinds.com/engineers-toolset/registration

2. ManageEngine OpUtils – FREE TRIAL

ManageEngine OpUtils contains a range of utilities that work on network addressing. Those functions include an IP Address Manager, a Switch Port Mapper and a Port Scanner.

Key Features:

Here is a look at the features of ManageEngine OpUtils.

• A separate screen for port scanning.
• Scan an individual device, a range of IP: addresses, or all devices on the network.
• Indication of the status of each port
• Additionally, a full IP Address Manager that can communicate with your DHCP and DNS servers.
• A Switch Port Mapper to see which slots on each switch are occupied.

Pricing: The Professional Edition of OpUtils is a paid tool and you need to contact the Sales Department to get a quote.

The Free Edition doesn’t include the Port Scanner. You can download a 30-day free trial.

Download: Download either version of OpUtils from https://www.manageengine.com/products/oputils/download.html

3. Advanced IP Scanner

Advanced IP Scanner is a reliable network scanning tool best used for analyzing LAN. It is easy to use and even runs as a portable edition.

Key Features: Here is a look at the features of Advanced IP Scanner.

• Gives easy access to shared folders through the network.
• Allows you to remotely control the tool via RDP and Radmin.
• Automatically detects MAC addresses.
• Enables you to switch computers on or off remotely.
• Exports scan results to CSV files
• Requires no installation at all.

Pricing: Free to use

Download: Download Advanced IP Scanner from
https://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/download/Advanced_IP_Scanner_2.5.3646.exe

4. Angry IP Scanner

Angry IP Scanner is an open-source and cross platform network scanner that is fast and simple to use.

Key Features: The features of Angry IP Scanner includes the following.

• Exports the scan results into many formats such as CSV, TXT, XML and IP-Port list files.
• Requires no installation at all
• Scans local network, IP address ranges, ports and even files of any format.
• Allows you to extend the functionality of this application with many fetchers.
• Comes with a command line interface.
• Starts by pinging each IP address, and then determines the MAC address and scans ports.
• Works on Mac, Windows and Linux
• Uses a multithreaded approach, in which a scanning thread is created for each scanned IP address.

Pricing: Free.

Download: Download Angry IP Scanner from https://angryip.org/download/

5. Nmap

Nmap is a free and open-source scanner that discovers devices on a network and builds a comprehensive “map” of the same. To do this, it sends special packets to targets and analyzes the response.

Key Features: The features of Nmap are:

• Identifies hosts on a network.
• Lists the open ports on target hosts.
• Checks network services on remote devices to determine the version number in applications.
• Determines the operating system and hardware characteristics of network devices.
• Interacts with the target by way of script using Nmap Scripting Engine and Lua programming language.
• Supports many techniques for mapping devices.
• Scans both UDP and TCP ports.
• Has the ability to scan huge networks comprising of tens of thousands of machines.
• Supports most well-known operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac, Free BSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, HP-UX, Sun OS, Amiga and more.

Pricing: 100% Free

Download: It can be downloaded at
https://nmap.org/download.html

6. NetCat

Netcat is a networking utility that reads and writes data across different connections using the TCP/IP protocol.

Key Features: The features of NetCat are as follows.

• Provides access to outbound and inbound connections and TCP and UDP ports.
• Comes with a tunneling mode to allow special tunneling such as UDP to TCP.
• Supports built-in port scanning capabilities
• Has advanced usage options such as buffered send mode and hexdump.
• Gives optional RFC854 telnet codes for parsing and responding.
• Provides full DNS forwarding and reverse checking with appropriate warnings.
• Has the ability to use any local source port or locally configured network source address.
• Reads command line arguments from standard input

Pricing: Free to use.

Download: Please download NetCat from
http://netcat.sourceforge.net/download.php

7. LanSweeper IP Scanner

LanSweeper IP Scanner is a free IP scanner that uses the available ports to gather and present detailed information about different applications.

Key Features: The features of LanSweeper IP Scanner are:

• Comes with a user-friendly interface.
• Gathers relevant network information through WMI, SNMP, SSH, FTP, HTTP and other protocols.
• Discovers scanned devices by IP address
• Executes custom actions such as remote shutdown, Wakeup On LAN and more.
• Scans IP ranges automatically or on demand
• Re-discovers an entire subnet with just one click.
• Imports your entire network setup through a CSV files
• Excludes devices from scanning based on their IP address.

Pricing: Free for up to 100 devices and $495 per year for up to 500 devices. For more than 500 devices, contact the support team for a quote.

Download: You can download this tool from
https://www.lansweeper.com/download

8. MyLanViewer Network/IP Scanner

MyLanViewer Network/IP Scanner is a powerful NetBIOS and LAN/Network IP scanner for Windows, and also performs a ton of other functionalities required to have a complete control over your network.

Key Features: The features of MyLanViewer Network/IP Scanner are as follows.

• Performs remote actions such as remote shutdown, reboot, sleep, hibernate and Wake On LAN (WOL).
• Helps you find all IP addresses, MAC addresses and shared folders on any wired or wireless network.
• Monitors IP addresses and shows the state of computers when they change.
• Does a variety of tasks such as terminates user sessions, disables shared folders, detects rogue DHCP servers, shows netstat information and more.
• Monitors all devices, including hidden ones, on your subnet.
• Comes with a user-friendly interface.
• Works well on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7 and 8.

Pricing: Free to use.

Download: You can download MyLanViewer IP Scanner from
http://www.mylanviewer.com/MyLanViewer-setup.exe

9. Slitheris Network Discovery

Slitheris Network Discovery is a premium agentless network scanner that helps to identify and scan different devices on a network.

Key Features: Features of Slitheris Network Discovery include,

• Collects information from devices without a need for credentials or agents.
• Offers a ton of information about each device/application
• Identifies the type of device by gathering dozens of attributes about every device and compares them to a device type definition database.
• Uses advanced algorithms to determine the year in which a device was manufactured.
• Determines if SMBv1 or SMBv2 is enabled, and if so, gives the choice to disable SMBv1 for security reasons.
• Uses ARP cache to identify hidden devices that are unresponsive to pings.
• Allows you to see the devices that have a GUI and gives you instant access to the same on your browser.
• A portable version is available.

Pricing: Free for up to 50 devices, $195 for up to 256 devices, $295 for up to 1000 devices and $395 for unlimited devices.

Download: You can download Slitheris from
http://www.komodolabs.com/downloads/slitheris_installer.exe

Conclusion

In short, port scanners are a vital tool for network administrators as they help to gather information about devices, so as to understand the working of these devices, their security and so much more.

They assist in identifying open ports and possibly vulnerable systems that could potentially allow intursions in your perimeter and cause potential leaks into your infrastructure.

We highly suggest you grab one of the downloads from above and give them a spin in your network. Some programs have nice Interfaces that allow for easy scanning and others have more complicated and advanced command line tools that accept advanced operators and more!

We hope the above information helps you to zero-in on the right port scanner for your network.