Many security experts and administrators use tools such as the port scanner nmap. This tool is one of the most used and one of the most powerful. However, to be able to analyze the ports and services, there are more tools. If you are thinking of changing the "scene" and want to try a different project, then you will like this article.
Obviously, these tools work on your Linux distro. Very practical projects so that you can audit your networks, discover the services and ports that are listening, etc. To do this, I recommend that you take a look at these alternatives:
Nmap
As I have mentioned before, it is the tool used par excellence when it comes to a port scanner. Its name comes from Network Mapper, and it is nothing new, it has been used for decades. With it you can do many analyzes to detect open ports, services, versions, operating systems, etc.
Angry IP Scanner
It is another one of the programs that acts as a lightweight and powerful port scanner for Linux. Also, it has a GJava based UI that will help those who do not get along with the terminal. With it you can get a multitude of information about the ports to determine the host name, MAC, services, etc. In addition, it allows you to store the results in various formats such as CSV, plain text, and XML.
sand map
sand map is an open source port scanner built on top of the nmap engine. Some kind of nmap on steroids that has been boosted to stay fast and adds some cool features. Plus, it comes with more than 30 modules and 400 scan profiles. And of course it also accepts TOR network and proxychains.
unicornscan
Another one of those powerful port scanner for the information gathering is Unicornscan. It has an active community to seek support from, and uses an asynchronous workflow for port scanning. It also supports PCAP filtering, custom modules, etc.
netcat (n)
Another old acquaintance to many. A powerful network analysis tool that includes a built-in port scanner. It is usually interesting even for debugging networks and has been used in Unix environments for a long time.
ZeusScanner
Another alternative to nmap is the Zeus Scanner port scanner. A advanced option with whois lookup features, vulnerability assessment, powerful scan engine, and other features including Google dorks, firewall identification, IP ban bypass, etc.
Vault
Finally, another of the interesting projects that you should know is this other pentesting tool with port scanning capability. It can be a good tool for getting information, fuzzing, crawling, etc. It is based on Python and has several analysis methods (ACK, XMAX,…), it allows scanning the OS, SSL, etc.