Wireshark vs OWASP ZAP: Key Differences & When to Use Each

Comprehensive side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and metrics

Key Differences

Compare Wireshark and OWASP ZAP across features, pricing, integrations, and community metrics. Wireshark / OWASP ZAP.

Feature

Wireshark

Security

OWASP ZAP

Security

Side-by-side comparison of developer tools
Network protocol analyzer
Web application security scanner
GitHub Stars
⭐ 9,284
⭐ 15,073
Contributors
👥 1,766
👥 273
Pricing
✓ Free
Enterprise: Contact sales
✓ Free
Enterprise: Contact sales
Languages
C
Java
Features
  • • Packet Capture
  • • Stratoshark
  • • Tshark
  • • Wireshark
  • • Appsec
  • • Dast
  • • Hacktoberfest
  • • Opensource
  • • Security
Integrations
  • • gitlab
No integrations listed
Momentum Score
95/100 (slowing)
58/100 (stable)
Community Health
73/100 (good)
23/100 (needs-attention)
Maturity Index
57/100 (growing)
32/100 (experimental)
Innovation Score
34/100 (traditional)
43/100 (evolving)
Risk Score (higher is safer)
82/100 (minimal)
29/100 (high)
Developer Experience
36/100 (poor)
36/100 (poor)
Links
🌐 Visit Website View on GitHub
🌐 Visit Website View on GitHub

Wireshark Strengths

  • ✓ Larger community (1,766 contributors)

OWASP ZAP Strengths

  • ✓ More popular (15,073 stars)
  • ✓ More features (5 listed)

When to Use Wireshark vs OWASP ZAP

Use Wireshark when its strengths align better with your stack and team needs, and choose OWASP ZAP when its ecosystem, integrations, or cost profile is a better fit.

Related comparisons

Wireshark vs uBlock Origin → OWASP ZAP vs uBlock Origin → Wireshark vs Metasploit → OWASP ZAP vs Metasploit → Wireshark vs SQLMap → OWASP ZAP vs SQLMap → Wireshark vs Trivy → OWASP ZAP vs Trivy → Wireshark vs Nmap → OWASP ZAP vs Nmap → Wireshark vs uBlock Origin → OWASP ZAP vs uBlock Origin →

More Comparisons

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Data source: GitHub API

Last updated: 5/4/2026