Angry IP Scanner is free, open source, cross-platform and available today. IPScanner.Pro keeps encrypted local history, marks what is NEW, GONE and CHANGED between scans, and shows the evidence behind each identification — but it runs only on macOS so far and has no public download, so Angry IP Scanner is the one you can actually use.
By Ahmad Abdur Rehman, Maintainer, IPScanner.ProLast reviewed 2026-09-14Sources verified 2026-09-11
You are deciding between the established free option and the one being built, and you want the comparison to tell you the truth about both.
This is the comparison where we have to be most careful, because it is the one where we are most tempted to flatter ourselves. So the conclusion goes first: if you need a network scanner today, use Angry IP Scanner. It is free, it is open source, it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it exists. IPScanner.Pro has no public download.
That out of the way, the two tools are designed around genuinely different questions. Angry IP Scanner answers "which addresses in this range answered, and what are their hostnames?" — fast, portable, exportable, and deliberately not trying to be more than that. It is a sweep tool, and it is a good one.
IPScanner.Pro is built around what happens after the sweep. Why does the tool think that device is a printer? Was it here last week? What changed since the last scan of this scope? Those are inventory questions rather than discovery questions, and they need retained history and visible evidence rather than speed.
Side by side
Every cell about a product we do not make is what that vendor or project publishes about itself. “Not stated in the source we cite” means exactly that — the source does not cover the point, so it is left blank rather than filled in from memory.
Competitor entries come from the sources in the citation table below, each retrieved on the date shown there. Our own row states shipped capabilities only.
Tool
Platforms
Licence and price
Account or cloud
Where results live
What it is good at
Sources
Angry IP ScannerThe Angry IP Scanner project
Windows, macOS and Linux. The current release bundles a Java runtime with the Windows and macOS builds; the Linux packages declare a Java dependency instead.
Free and open source.
No account is described in the project’s own documentation.
Scanning and results stay on the machine that ran them. The project added an optional anonymous error-report setting in Preferences in 3.8.1.
The most portable of the free scanners: one tool, three operating systems, no installation required, and an export format for nearly anything you want to do with the list afterwards.
A native macOS application. A Windows x64 portable build is implemented, but native acceptance testing is not complete.
Free-first for individuals. Paid organisation features are planned, not available.
No account for local scanning. The current desktop workflow is Local Only; optional online sync is designed but not built.
On the machine that scanned, encrypted, keyed to the macOS Keychain or Windows DPAPI. Online sync is designed as a per-device opt-in on top of that, and it does not exist yet — there is no upload path in the product today.
It shows the evidence behind every identification instead of asserting an answer, keeps encrypted history so you can see what changed since last time, and prices an expensive action before it runs rather than after.
Our own product, not a citation.
Which one to pick
A comparison that steers every reader to the same answer is an advertisement. These are the conditions under which each tool here is the right choice — including the ones that are not ours.
Angry IP Scanner
You want one free, open-source scanner that behaves the same on Windows, macOS and Linux, and you are comfortable with a Java application.
IPScanner.Pro
You want to know why a device was identified the way it was, and you want the result to stay on your machine unless you deliberately decide otherwise.
Where Angry IP Scanner wins
Availability, which is not a small thing — it is the whole of the decision if you need to scan something this afternoon. Portability across three operating systems from one project. No installation. Open source, so its behaviour can be audited and its plugin model extended. And a maintained release line: 3.10.0 bundles a Java runtime with the Windows and macOS builds, supports modern Java, and shipped real security fixes including a plugin trust confirmation dialog and quoted shell arguments to prevent command injection via DNS poisoning.
It also has a command-line mode, which matters if this ends up inside a script.
Where IPScanner.Pro is different
Retained, encrypted history is the core of it. Scans are stored on the machine that ran them, keyed to the macOS Keychain or Windows DPAPI, with a one-year default retention you can change. A later scan of the same scope is compared against the earlier evidence and marked NEW, GONE or CHANGED, first-seen dates survive a match, and a partial scan does not emit GONE — an interrupted run cannot invent a disappearance.
The second difference is that identifications carry their evidence. Instead of a label, you get the label and the reasons for it, so you can tell a confident answer from a guess. The third is Full ports: a selected-device action on a finished discovery, priced as devices × 65,535 attempts before you confirm, rather than a range sweep you set running and hope about.
And the limits, in the same breath: no public download, macOS verified with Windows acceptance incomplete, restored rows labelled historical rather than reachable, a 256-device cap on startup restore with History covering the rest, and no online sync — that is designed as an opt-in on top of local storage and is not built.
What each of these cannot do
Every entry below includes the tool we make, on the same terms and in the same list. The competitor entries state capabilities, not quality judgements.
Angry IP Scanner — The Angry IP Scanner project
It is a Java application. The current release requires Java 21 or newer and bundles a runtime with the Windows and macOS builds, so the download is larger than a native binary.
Plugins load into the running application. The project added a plugin trust confirmation dialog in 3.10.0 for exactly that reason.
The project website’s news page stops in 2019, which makes the project look dormant. The release history says otherwise — 3.10.0 shipped with a bundled runtime, modern Java support and security fixes. Judge the repository, not the news page.
Device identification is deliberately thin. It tells you what answered, not what the thing is.
There is no public download. Signed and notarized distribution does not exist yet, so nothing on this site offers an installer or a version number.
macOS is the verified platform. The Windows x64 build is implemented but has not completed native acceptance testing.
Full ports is not a whole-range sweep. It runs only on devices you select from a completed discovery in the same session.
Restored inventory is labelled historical and never claims a device is reachable now. Startup restore covers the newest retained scan and stops at 256 devices; the History dialog covers the rest.
Device identification can be incomplete. Private MAC addresses, blocked responses and thin evidence limit what any local tool can conclude.
Online sync, accounts and organisation features are not built. The design keeps local storage as the default and adds sync as an opt-in, but none of it ships today.
Scanning on macOS requires Local Network permission; Windows may show a firewall prompt or apply an organisation policy.
What we have built, and what we have not
The row above is a summary. This is the full list, marked by whether it exists today. A feature marked planned is a design decision, not a promise with a date, and nothing on this site should be bought or downloaded on the strength of one — there is nothing to buy or download yet.
ShippedBounded discovery with visible evidence. Quick, Balanced and Thorough discovery inside a scope you authorize, showing provisional rows while the scan runs and the evidence behind every identification.
ShippedFull ports on devices you select. A selected-device action on a finished discovery in the same session, priced as devices × 65,535 attempts before you confirm. It is not a whole-range sweep.
ShippedEncrypted local history. Scans are retained encrypted on the machine that ran them, keyed to the macOS Keychain or Windows DPAPI, with a one-year default retention you can change.
ShippedNEW, GONE and CHANGED against earlier scans. Manual records compare against earlier evidence for the same scope, preserve matched first-seen dates, and suppress GONE on a partial scan so an interrupted run cannot invent a disappearance.
ShippedLocal Only as the default data path. The current desktop workflow is Local Only: results are written to the machine that scanned and there is no upload path in the product today.
PlannedOptional online sync of results. The design keeps local storage as the default and adds sync as a per-device opt-in, so a result reaches a server only when you turn it on. It is not built: there are no accounts, no registered agents and no durable storage yet, and nothing on this site should be read as offering it today.
PlannedSigned, public downloads. There is no public download. Signed and notarized distribution does not exist yet, which is why no page on this site carries a download button or a version number.
Every claim, and where it came from
Every statement about another product on this page comes from that vendor’s or project’s own published material, with the retrieval date shown for each source. Where a source does not cover a point, the table says so instead of guessing. This page contains no benchmarks, no speed or accuracy comparisons and no hands-on measurements of the other tools: we did not test them to write it.
Each row is a claim this page makes about a product we do not make, and the publication it came from.
Claim on this page
Source
Retrieved
Angry IP Scanner is free, open source and cross-platform for Windows, macOS and Linux, and needs no installation.
Angry IP Scanner 3.10.0 requires Java 21 or newer, bundles a Java runtime with the Windows and macOS builds, and its macOS build no longer requires Rosetta.
Angry IP Scanner 3.10.0 added a plugin trust confirmation dialog, quoted shell arguments passed to openers to prevent command injection via DNS poisoning, and fixed a possible SQL injection in its SQL exporter.
Competitor platforms, licence models and account requirements change. These pages are re-checked quarterly, and immediately when a cited product changes. If something here is out of date, telling us is the fastest way to get it fixed.
About this page and who wrote it
This page was written from the vendors’ and projects’ own published documentation and from the IPScanner.Pro codebase, including the scope, consent and Full-ports rules the desktop application enforces. It makes no first-hand claim about how any other tool behaves in practice, because we did not test them to write it.
Where it is wrong, or where a cited product has changed, support@ipscanner.pro reaches the person who maintains it, and corrections are made rather than argued with. A suspected security issue in IPScanner.Pro goes to security@ipscanner.pro instead — there is a disclosure policy setting out what happens next.
Written by
Ahmad Abdur Rehman — Maintainer, IPScanner.Pro
Relevant experience
Writes and maintains the scanning engine described on this page, including the scope, consent and Full-ports rules the desktop application enforces.
Last reviewed
2026-09-14
Sources verified
2026-09-11
What this page is based on
The vendors’ and projects’ own published documentation, and the IPScanner.Pro codebase. No benchmark, and no hands-on test of any other tool listed here.
Questions people ask
Which should I use right now?
Angry IP Scanner. IPScanner.Pro has no public download, so it is not a choice you can make today. We would rather say that plainly than have you find out after clicking something.
Is IPScanner.Pro open source like Angry IP Scanner?
No. Angry IP Scanner is free and open source; IPScanner.Pro is not open source. If auditable source is a requirement for you, that is a real and permanent difference between the two, and Angry IP Scanner is the right answer.
Does Angry IP Scanner keep a history of scans?
It exports results, which you can keep and compare yourself. What it does not do is retain scans and compute the difference for you. Encrypted retained history with NEW, GONE and CHANGED marking is the main functional difference between the two tools.
Will IPScanner.Pro upload my scans anywhere?
No. The current desktop workflow is Local Only and there is no upload path in the product. Online sync is designed as a per-device opt-in on top of local storage, and it is not built — no accounts, no registered agents, no durable storage. If that changes, it will be something you switch on, not something that happens to you.
Found something out of date on this page? Tell us at support@ipscanner.pro and it gets corrected — a comparison is only worth reading if the person who wrote it fixes it when it is wrong.