What Angry IP Scanner does

Angry IP Scanner (also known as ipscan) is an open-source, cross-platform network scanner distributed under the GPL v2 license and maintained primarily by a single developer, Anton Keks, with community contributions accepted via GitHub. Founded in 2001 and originally released on SourceForge, the product scans IP addresses and ports to detect alive hosts, resolve hostnames via DNS reverse lookup, retrieve MAC addresses through ARP, gather NetBIOS information on Windows, and export results to CSV, TXT, XML, or IP:Port list formats. The software is built in Java using the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) for native GUI rendering and features a modular plugin architecture with four extensibility interfaces — Feeders (IP address generation), Fetchers (data collection), Exporters (result output), and Pingers (host detection) — plus a custom dependency injection pattern and a LibraryLoader that auto-extracts native libraries for single-file distribution across platforms.

The product supports Windows (installer with bundled JRE and standalone executable), macOS (ARM64 and Intel bundles), and Linux (DEB and RPM packages for multiple architectures), and includes a command-line interface for automation. It uses multi-threaded parallel scanning with configurable thread pools and adaptive timeouts, plus multiple ping methods (ICMP Echo, ICMP.DLL on Windows, UDP packet pinging, and TCP port probe). As of March 2015 the project reported over 29 million downloads across SourceForge and GitHub combined, with actual usage likely higher given unofficial mirrors.

The business model is entirely non-commercial: the software is free, there are no paid tiers, no premium features, no enterprise editions, no donations mechanism, and no disclosed revenue. Distribution is exclusively self-serve through GitHub Releases, SourceForge (legacy), and the project website (angryip.org), targeting a horizontal segment of network administrators, IT consultants, and curious users at both individual and enterprise scale. The project is bootstrapped, has no parent company, has never raised outside capital, and operates as a hobby maintained by Anton Keks alongside his separate role as co-founder of Codeborne, an agile software development company.

Name

Angry IP Scanner

Legal name

Angry IP Scanner

Website

https://angryip.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Angry IP Scanner is a free, open-source, cross-platform Java-based network scanner for Windows, macOS, and Linux that scans IP addresses and ports, detecting hosts and exporting results. It serves network administrators, IT consultants, and curious users globally with over 29 million reported downloads.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Network Administration & Security Tools

akta.pro primary industry

IP Address Management (IPAM) & DNS/DHCP Management (DDI) (HDAFAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Intrusion Prevention/Detection Systems (IPS/IDS) (HDADABAH)

Keywords

• Network scanning tool
• IP address scanning
• Port scanning software
• Network administration tools
• Host discovery scanner

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Open-source free software: Angry IP Scanner is completely free and open-source under GPL v2 license. There is no revenue model — the project is maintained as a hobby by Anton Keks. No premium tiers, no paid features, no donations mechanism mentioned.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Angry IP Scanner (ipscan) is a free, open-source, cross-platform network scanner that scans IP addresses and ports to detect alive hosts, resolve hostnames, determine MAC addresses, and gather port and NetBIOS information. It is extensible via a plugin system (Feeders, Fetchers, Exporters, Pingers) and exports results to CSV, TXT, XML, or IP:Port list formats. Distributed under GPL v2 with no paid tiers, it targets network administrators and technical users on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Product overview

Angry IP Scanner is a single, unified open-source network scanning tool rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product (Angry IP Scanner or ipscan) provides IP address scanning, port scanning, hostname resolution, MAC address detection, and NetBIOS information gathering. It is extended through a plugin system ( Feeders, Fetchers, Exporters) that users and developers can write in Java. No additional products, modules, or sub-brands exist within the portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Angry IP Scanner A free, open-source, cross-platform network scanner that scans IP addresses and ports to detect alive hosts, resolve hostnames, determine MAC addresses, and gather port information. Supports plugins for extended functionality and exports results to CSV, TXT, XML, or IP-Port list formats. Targets network administrators and technical users on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Quantifiable outcome

• 29M+ total downloads across all distribution channels
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Lansweeper: Asset discovery and network inventory platform that continuously scans networks to identify devices and software - operates in the same network-discovery category as Angry IP Scanner but at enterprise scale with paid commercial licensing.
• SolarWinds IP Address Manager: Commercial IPAM and network discovery product from an established infrastructure vendor that solves the same underlying problem (knowing what's on your network and what addresses are in use) with an enterprise-grade paid offering - demonstrates the commercial ceiling of the space Angry IP Scanner addresses for free.
• ManageEngine OpUtils: Commercial network management suite that includes IP address management, port scanning, and switch port mapping - directly competes with Angry IP Scanner's IP-scanning and host-discovery use cases within enterprise IT budgets.

Emerging players

• Wireshark: Open-source packet-level network analyzer - adjacent rather than directly competing, since it operates at deeper protocol inspection while Angry IP Scanner operates at host/port discovery, but both are staples of every network administrator's toolkit.
• NetBox: Open-source infrastructure resource modeling tool with strong IPAM capabilities - competing for the network-inventory and IP-management use case that Angry IP Scanner's 'find spare addresses' function addresses, though aimed more at network engineering teams.
• Kismet: Open-source wireless network detector, sniffer, and IDS - an adjacent open-source tool that overlaps with Angry IP Scanner's host-discovery mission but specialized for Wi-Fi rather than wired IP scanning.

Direct peers

• Fing: Network scanner (mobile-first and desktop) that discovers devices, scans ports, and inventories networks; targets similar hands-on network administrators and curious end-users and has built a much larger commercial entity around the same scanning primitives.
• Advanced IP Scanner: Free Windows-focused network scanner for LAN administration that offers similar one-click IP/port scanning with a polished GUI - a near-identical product profile to Angry IP Scanner but Windows-only and commercially backed by Famatech.
• Nmap: The canonical open-source network scanner that Angry IP Scanner explicitly positions against as the 'easy alternative.' Both tools perform IP/port scanning and host discovery with cross-platform support; Nmap is vastly more powerful but harder to use, which is the exact gap Angry IP Scanner targets.
• Zenmap: Nmap's official GUI front-end and the most direct functional analogue to Angry IP Scanner: a cross-platform graphical interface for running network scans. Competes head-to-head for the same 'easy-to-use network scanner' use case.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xgithub.com/angryziber
• GitHubgithub.com/angryip/ipscan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Angry IP Scanner