# Mercury

Mercury is a Network Detection and Response product. It runs on-premises. Pricing is free.

Network metadata capture and analysis tool

Checked October 2026.

## What is Mercury?

Mercury is a network metadata capture and analysis tool that reads network packets, identifies metadata of interest, and writes out the metadata in JSON format. It can also write out packets containing metadata in the PCAP file format. The tool can scale up to high data rates (40Gbps on server-class hardware) using zero-copy ring buffers and independent worker threads for packet processing.

Tags: PCAP, Packet Capture

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

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

## Quick facts

- Category: [Network Security](https://cybersectools.com/categories/network-security) · [Network Detection and Response](https://cybersectools.com/categories/ndr)
- Deployment: On-Premises
- Company size fit: Mid-Market, Enterprise
- Pricing model: Free
- GitHub stars: 501
- Website: github.com

## Where it ranks

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

## Mercury FAQ

### What is Mercury?

Mercury is a product in the Network Detection and Response category. It covers PCAP and Packet Capture.

### What is the pricing for Mercury?

Mercury is free. Download and setup instructions are at https://github.com/cisco/mercury/.

### What are alternatives to Mercury?

Alternatives to Mercury listed on CybersecTools:

1. [cPacket Unified Observability Platform](https://cybersectools.com/tools/cpacket-unified-observability-platform) - Modular network observability platform for packet brokering, capture & analytics. (Commercial)
2. [Garland Technology EdgeLens](https://cybersectools.com/tools/garland-technology-edgelens) - Bypass TAP/packet broker hybrid for before-and-after inline tool traffic analysis. (Commercial)
3. [Allentis Tapics Copper TAP](https://cybersectools.com/tools/allentis-tapics-copper-tap) - Passive copper TAP range for non-intrusive Ethernet traffic monitoring. (Commercial)
4. [Stamus Networks Clear NDR](https://cybersectools.com/tools/stamus-networks-clear-ndr) - Network detection and response platform for threat detection and analysis (Commercial)
5. [Red Piranha Crystal Eye NDR](https://cybersectools.com/tools/red-piranha-crystal-eye-ndr) - NDR solution with threat intelligence, PCAP analysis, and SOC services (Commercial)

Compare all Mercury alternatives at [https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/mercury](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/mercury)

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

Mercury is available as on-premises software. It is listed for mid-market companies and enterprises. It is free.

## Compare Mercury with similar solutions

- [Mercury vs cPacket Unified Observability Platform](https://cybersectools.com/compare/cpacket-unified-observability-platform-vs-mercury)
- [Mercury vs Garland Technology EdgeLens](https://cybersectools.com/compare/garland-technology-edgelens-vs-mercury)
- [Mercury vs Allentis Tapics Copper TAP](https://cybersectools.com/compare/allentis-tapics-copper-tap-vs-mercury)

All alternatives to Mercury: [/alternatives/mercury](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/mercury)

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

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