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WinPcap has been the de facto standard library for packet capture and
link-layer packet injection for over a decade. Many open source and commercial
network tools use WinPcap for network access and filtering, but it has been
unmaintained since 2013 and is no longer supported.
Npcap is the exciting and feature-packed update to the venerable WinPcap
packet capture library. Building on the successful WinPcap legacy, Npcap brings
increased speed, security, and Windows 10 support. All of WinPcap's packet
capture and injection features are included, with a few great additions like
raw 802.11 frame capture. Still wondering if Npcap is right for you? Check
out this comparison of features:
| Feature | Npcap | WinPcap |
| Info |
| Actively maintained and supported |
Yes |
No (WinPcap development was terminated) |
| Last release date |
March 19, 2020 |
March 8, 2013 |
| libpcap version |
1.9.1 (2019) |
1.0.0 (2008) |
| License |
Free for personal use |
BSD-style |
| Supported commercial/redistributable version |
Yes (Npcap OEM) |
No (WinPcap Professional product terminated) |
| Security |
| EV SHA-256 code signing |
Yes |
No |
| Limit access to administrators (optional) |
Yes |
No |
| Basic features |
| Packet capture with the cross-platform libpcap API |
Yes |
Yes |
| Link-layer packet injection |
Yes |
Yes |
| Source code available |
Yes (Link) |
Yes (Link) |
| Advanced Features |
| Capture raw 802.11 frames |
Yes, with many widely-available adapters |
Yes, with specialized AirPcap hardware |
| Capture Loopback traffic |
Yes |
No |
| Inject Loopback traffic |
Yes |
No |
Ready to give Npcap a try? Just download the
latest installer. Npcap works great with Wireshark, Nmap, and more of your
favorite tools already. For software that's written with WinPcap in mind, simply
select "WinPcap API-compatible mode" at installation.
Want to develop software for Npcap? Check out the
Npcap Developer's
Guide and the Npcap SDK. For software that
already uses WinPcap, you can test Npcap in WinPcap API-compatible mode. You can
easily support both WinPcap and Npcap or simply use the SDK to
use Npcap with all of its new features. If you want to distribute Npcap with
your application, ask us about getting a Npcap OEM
license and support contract.
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