All comparisonsPCAPdroid and NetCageAn open-source network monitor for Android that captures and analyses app traffic without root, with a paid firewall add-on.Last checked 7 November 2026Check PCAPdroid’s own pageYou can’t install NetCage todayIt has no store listing and no public download, so there’s no install link on this page and no price to quote. If you need something on your phone now, PCAPdroid is there to install and NetCage isn’t.Better served by PCAPdroidChoose PCAPdroid if you want to see the packets, decrypt TLS and export PCAP files, and block apps as a paid extra on top.Better served by NetCageChoose NetCage if you do not want to inspect anything; NetCage reads only the header it needs to send a refusal and never records your traffic.Row by rowNetCage’s column comes from its code. PCAPdroid’s comes from the linked pages. “Not stated” means we didn’t find it there, not that it’s missing.

Feature

PCAPdroid

NetCage

Blocks one chosen app’s internet

Partly github.com

Yes

Keeps blocking while the app is in the background

Not stated on the pages we checked

Yes

Needs no root

Yes github.com

Yes

Open source

Yes f-droid.org

Shows ads

No play.google.com

Partly. Promotions for the developer’s own apps only. No ad network.

In-app purchases

Yes play.google.com

What it costs

App: Free. Free install on Google Play; the listing carries an In-app purchases label at $2.99 - $11.99 per item. The firewall is listed as a paid feature play.google.com

NetCage publishes no price.Where NetCage falls short

It takes Android’s one VPN slot. While NetCage is up you can’t run another VPN, and connecting one stops NetCage.

Apps that share an Android user ID are caged together, and there’s no way to separate them.

A caged app can still hand a link to a browser you haven’t caged, and that browser connects as normal.

It doesn’t work inside an app: no domain rules, no block lists, no traffic log. An app is caged or it isn’t.

PCAPdroid is open source and NetCage isn’t, so you can read one app’s code and not the other’s.

Every limit, in the documentationComing from PCAPdroid?The documentation has a page on how the two differ and which of its guides to read first. Read it on the documentation siteIf a row here is wrong, tell us and we’ll open the page again. Contact