# Endlessh

Endlessh is a Honeypots & Deception product. It runs on-premises. Pricing is free.

Endlessh is an SSH tarpit that traps SSH clients by sending an endless, random SSH banner.

Checked October 2026.

## What is Endlessh?

Endlessh is an SSH tarpit that very slowly sends an endless, random SSH banner. It keeps SSH clients locked up for hours or even days at a time. The purpose is to put your real SSH server on another port and then let the script kiddies get stuck in this tarpit instead of bothering a real server. Since the tarpit is in the banner before any cryptographic exchange occurs, this program doesn't depend on any cryptographic libraries. It's a simple, single-threaded, standalone C program. It uses poll() to trap multiple clients at a time. Usage information is printed with -h.
Usage:
endlessh [-vhs] [-d MS] [-f CONFIG] [-l LEN] [-m LIMIT] [-p PORT]
-4 Bind to IPv4 only
-6 Bind to IPv6 only
-d INT Message millisecond delay [10000]
-f Set and load config file [/etc/endlessh/config]
-h Print this help message and exit
-l INT Maximum banner line length (3-255) [32]
-m INT Maximum number of clients [4096]
-p INT Listening port [2222]
-s Print diagnostics to syslog instead of standard output
-v Print diagnostics (repeatable)
Argument order matters. The configuration file is loaded when the -f argument is processed, so only the options that follow will override the c

Tags: SSH, Security Tools

## Where it fits in your security program (NIST CSF 2.0)

- [Respond](https://cybersectools.com/guides/building-respond-program-small-team): helps you contain and handle incidents.

## Quick facts

- Category: [Security Operations](https://cybersectools.com/categories/security-operations) · [Honeypots & Deception](https://cybersectools.com/categories/honeypots)
- Deployment: On-Premises
- Company size fit: Startup, SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise
- Pricing model: Free
- GitHub stars: 8,418
- Website: github.com

## Where it ranks

No shortlist covers this product's category yet. The closest is [Best MDR Solutions for Business](https://cybersectools.com/shortlists/best-mdr-solutions).

## Endlessh FAQ

### What is Endlessh?

Endlessh is a product in the Honeypots & Deception category. It covers SSH and Security Tools.

### What is the pricing for Endlessh?

Endlessh is free. Download and setup instructions are at https://github.com/skeeto/endlessh/.

### What are alternatives to Endlessh?

Alternatives to Endlessh listed on CybersecTools:

1. [Trapster](https://cybersectools.com/tools/trapster) - Honeypot platform deploying network decoys to detect intrusions with zero false positives (Commercial)
2. [Deception Check Fleet Status](https://cybersectools.com/tools/deception-check-fleet-status) - Public honeypot fleet dashboard showing global attack telemetry and threat intel. (Commercial)
3. [Guardpot AI-Powered Cyber Deception](https://cybersectools.com/tools/guardpot-ai-powered-cyber-deception) - AI-powered deception platform using honeypots to detect & disrupt attacks (Commercial)
4. [Cybersense Deception](https://cybersectools.com/tools/cybersense-cybersense-deception) - Deception-based intrusion detection system for CRITIS compliance (Commercial)
5. [Mimic Deflect](https://cybersectools.com/tools/mimic-deflect) - Real-time ransomware attack deflection through deception and diversion (Commercial)

Compare all Endlessh alternatives at [https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/endlessh](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/endlessh)

### What deployment and organization size does Endlessh fit?

Endlessh is available as on-premises software. It is listed for startups, small businesses, mid-market companies and enterprises. It is free.

## Compare Endlessh with similar solutions

- [Endlessh vs Trapster](https://cybersectools.com/compare/endlessh-vs-trapster)
- [Endlessh vs Deception Check Fleet Status](https://cybersectools.com/compare/deception-check-fleet-status-vs-endlessh)
- [Endlessh vs Guardpot AI-Powered Cyber Deception](https://cybersectools.com/compare/endlessh-vs-guardpot-ai-powered-cyber-deception)

All alternatives to Endlessh: [/alternatives/endlessh](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/endlessh)

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Source: https://cybersectools.com/tools/endlessh

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More on Endlessh: funding, momentum, hiring and news, plus the full product and company record, are available through the Mandos MCP Server (paid plans), which connects to AI assistants: https://mandos.io/mcp?utm_source=cybersectools.com&utm_medium=product-md