OpenCanary

7.3easy start · #2 of 18
in Honeypot Software

Free to practise onyes
Free trialnot on record
Well documentedyes
Runs where you worknot on record

Runs on Linux, Mac, self-hosted.

OpenCanary is ranked #2 of 18 in honeypot software on The Geeks Club. It runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

OpenCanary plans and pricing

All plans

OpenCanary Free Open-source software · self-hosted deployment github.com · 2 Oct 2026

Compared on honeypot software

Free plan: Yes
Deployment model: self-hosted
Decoy scope: network
Credential lures: Yes

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The record

Purpose: OpenCanary is a multi-protocol network honeypot intended to catch hackers after they breach non-public networks.
Operation: It runs as a daemon implementing multiple common network protocols and sends alerts when attackers interact with it.
Resource use: OpenCanary has extremely low resource requirements and can run on a Raspberry Pi or a minimally resourced virtual machine.
Protocol mimicry: It can mimic an array of network-accessible services for attackers to interact with.
Alert details: Alerts can identify the threat source IP address and where the breach may have occurred.
Alert channels: The documentation lists Syslog, email, and the opencanary-correlator as alert destinations.
Event correlation: The correlator coalesces multiple related events, such as individual brute-force login attempts, into one alert sent by email or SMS.
Webhook integration: A customizable webhook logging handler sends data to an HTTP endpoint and supports GET, POST, and PUT methods.
Chat integrations: Webhooks can post to Slack or Microsoft Teams channels.
Optional modules: The optional SNMP module requires Scapy, while the Windows File Share module requires Samba.
Portscan limit: The portscan module is supported only on Linux hosts because it modifies iptables rules, and it is automatically disabled in Dockerized OpenCanary.
Security guidance: The project recommends making the configuration file root-owned and writable only by root because writable configuration can allow privilege escalation.
License: The PyPI listing identifies OpenCanary as OSI Approved BSD licensed software.
Support: Bug reports are requested through GitHub, security vulnerabilities through the project security policy, and feature requests through the project tracker.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Honeypot Software in 2026#2 of 18

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Sources

github.com/thinkst/opencanary/blob/master/README.m· checked 1 Oct 2026
github.com/thinkst/opencanary/blob/master/docs/ind· checked 1 Oct 2026
github.com/thinkst/opencanary/blob/master/docs/ale· checked 1 Oct 2026
pypi.org/project/opencanary/· checked 1 Oct 2026
opencanary.readthedocs.io/en/latest/starting/configuration.html· checked 2 Oct 2026
opencanary.readthedocs.io/en/latest/· checked 2 Oct 2026
github.com/thinkst/opencanary· checked 2 Oct 2026
github.com/thinkst/opencanary/security/policy· checked 2 Oct 2026