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Dionaea

Free#14 of 21 in Honeypot Software

Dionaea: A focused, self-hosted honeypot for observing attacks on network-facing services. Ranked #14 of 21 in Honeypot Software by our editors (7.4/10); pricing: Open source; best for low-interaction malware capture.

7.4/10★★★★☆Editor score

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At a glance

• Editor score
  7.4 / 10
• Pricing
  Open source
• Best for
  Low-interaction malware capture
• Paid from
  Free
• Deployment model
  Self-hosted
• Facts checked
  22 Sep 2026

• Where it wins

  • Emulates network services across TCP, UDP and TLS
  • Supports IPv4, IPv6, shellcode detection and malware storage
  • Offers Docker deployment with configurable logging and event handlers

• Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires Linux or Docker operations
  • Focused on network capture rather than broad deception
  • Low-interaction emulation may provide limited attacker engagement depth

Our verdict on Dionaea

Dionaea is an open-source, low-interaction honeypot for security researchers and defenders who want to expose network services and capture malware targeting them. It supports configurable service modules, IPv4 and IPv6 networking, TCP, UDP and TLS services, shellcode detection through libemu, malware download storage, and bidirectional stream dumping. The product is aimed at network-focused observation rather than full-environment deception, making it a fit for teams studying attacks against exposed services.

Deployment flexibility is a practical strength. Dionaea runs on Linux systems, is primarily installed from source, and also provides an official Docker image. Its self-hosted model gives teams control over placement and operation, while privilege dropping and chroot support provide deployment safeguards. Logging can be configured through event handlers, JSON logging, SQLite logging, Fail2ban, and hpfeeds, helping connect captured activity with existing analysis or response workflows.

The feature depth is concentrated in capture and analysis. Multiple protocol and transport options, shellcode detection, malware storage, and bidirectional stream dumping support investigation of hostile network activity without requiring a broad deception stack. Teams should choose Dionaea when they want an open-source honeypot with network service emulation and direct control over deployment. Organizations seeking a managed service, cloud-hosted decoys, or a wider deception platform should look for a product designed around those operating models and broader scope.

Your product? Our editors can test Dionaea in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Dionaea pricing

Dionaea fact sheet

Dionaea integrations

Dionaea lists 4 integrations on its own site.

• Fail2ban
• hpfeeds
• JSON logging
• SQLite logging

Alternatives to Dionaea

• BeelzebubA flexible self-hosted honeypot runtime with adaptive interactions and deep security integrations.9.4
• CowrieA mature, deep SSH and Telnet honeypot for self-hosted threat monitoring.9.2
• TPT-PotA broad self-hosted honeypot platform for teams that want many decoys and built-in analysis.9.0

See all Dionaea alternatives →

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The editor score above is our own research. What this page doesn't have yet is a reader's view — what you used Dionaea for, what worked and what didn't. No stars are seeded and no review is paid for; an editor reads every one before it appears.

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Featured on iTechGuides

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update