The best network scanners for Mac in 2026
Half the tools people recommend for scanning a network never made it to macOS. Advanced IP Scanner? Windows-only. Here is what actually runs on a Mac, and what each tool is good at.
Full disclosure: DeviceShelf is our own app, so we put it first. The other five entries are real tools we respect, with an honest note on where they beat us.
1. DeviceShelf — scan, identify, monitor
One click scans your Wi-Fi or LAN and shows every connected device: name, vendor, open ports, and what the device actually is (a printer, a camera, someone's phone). It keeps watching afterwards and notifies you when an unknown device joins. Everything stays on your Mac — no account, no cloud, and the license is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. There is a 7-day free trial.
Where others beat it: if all you need is a one-off ping sweep, a free tool below does the job.
2. LanScan — the quick free sweep
A lean Mac App Store classic: fast IPv4 discovery with hostname, MAC address and vendor. The free version covers small scans; LanScan Pro (paid) removes the limits. No monitoring, no port scanning, no device identification beyond the vendor name — but for a quick look at a subnet it is hard to argue with. See our detailed LanScan comparison.
3. Angry IP Scanner — free and open source
Cross-platform, open source, and completely free. It pings a range, resolves hostnames and can check individual ports. The interface is utilitarian and it needs Java, but it does exactly what it says. No identification, no monitoring, no history — a scanner in the most literal sense. Our take: Angry IP Scanner comparison.
4. Nmap — the professional's toolbox
The most capable port scanner ever written, free and open source. If you are comfortable in the terminal, nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 is a fine discovery sweep, and its OS and service detection go deeper than any GUI tool. The price is the learning curve: flags, output formats and interpretation are on you.
5. Fing Desktop — mobile-first, cloud-backed
Fing's desktop app pairs with its popular mobile scanner and a large crowd-sourced device database. Full features want an account, the cloud, and a subscription; some need the Fingbox hardware. Polished, but a different philosophy from local-only tools. Details in our Fing comparison.
6. What about Advanced IP Scanner?
The most-searched name in this category is Windows-only — there is no macOS version and none announced. On a Mac, the closest equivalents are the tools above; DeviceShelf and LanScan cover the same ground natively. More in our Advanced IP Scanner comparison.
Side by side
| Tool | DeviceShelf | LanScan | Angry IP | Nmap | Fing Desktop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | One-time €39 | Free + Pro | Free (OSS) | Free (OSS) | Free + subscription |
| Device identification | ✓ (incl. AI) | Vendor only | — | OS/service detection | ✓ (cloud DB) |
| Open-port overview | ✓ | — | Basic | ✓✓ | Basic |
| Monitoring & new-device alerts | ✓ | — | — | — | ✓ (account) |
| Security report | ✓ | — | — | Manual (scripts) | ~ |
| Works without account/cloud | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Limited |
| GUI | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (Java) | CLI (Zenmap dated) | ✓ |
✓ = yes · — = no · ~ = limited. As of July 2026, best-effort from public product pages; features may differ by version and platform.
Which one should you pick?
A one-off look at the subnet: LanScan or Angry IP Scanner, both free. Deep port analysis and you like the terminal: Nmap, no contest. You live on your phone: Fing. You want to know what every device is, get alerted when something new joins, and keep all of it off the cloud: that is exactly why we built DeviceShelf.
Try DeviceShelf free for 7 days See the full comparison
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