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Comparison with Similar Tools

How ttl compares to other traceroute and network diagnostic tools.

Feature Matrix

Feature ttl Trippy MTR NextTrace pathping
Protocols
ICMP ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
UDP ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
TCP ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
Statistics
Loss % ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Min/Avg/Max RTT ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Jitter ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Std deviation ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Enrichment
Reverse DNS ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
ASN lookup ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌
GeoIP ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌
MPLS labels ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
IX detection ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
ECMP
Multi-path detection ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
Per-flow/per-packet classification ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Paris traceroute ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
TUI
Interactive ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Themes ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Theme persistence ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Sparklines/charts ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
World map ❌ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌
Export
JSON ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
CSV ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Session replay (interactive) ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Advanced
Multiple targets ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
PMTUD ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
NAT detection ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Rate limit detection ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Route flap detection ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Asymmetric routing ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌

✅ = supported | ❌ = not supported

For Windows/Enterprise Users: TTL vs pathping

If you're coming from a Windows environment, you're probably familiar with pathping. Here's how ttl compares:

Aspect ttl pathping
Speed Real-time continuous updates Waits 25+ seconds per hop before showing stats
Protocols ICMP, UDP, TCP ICMP only
Output Interactive TUI, JSON, CSV Text only
Enrichment ASN, GeoIP, IX, DNS DNS only
Analysis Rate limit detection, NAT detection, route flaps Basic loss stats
Cost Free, open source Built into Windows
Platforms Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD Windows only

Why switch from pathping?

  • No more waiting 5+ minutes for results - ttl shows stats immediately
  • Export to JSON/CSV for tickets and documentation
  • Identify why there's packet loss (rate limiting vs real drops)
  • See which ISP/AS each hop belongs to

Running TTL on Windows via WSL

TTL works great on Windows through WSL2. Setup takes under 2 minutes:

# 1. Install WSL (if not already installed)
wsl --install
# Restart your computer, then open Ubuntu from Start menu
# 2. In Ubuntu, install ttl (choose one):

# Option A: Pre-built binary (fastest)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lance0/ttl/master/install.sh | sh

# Option B: Build from source
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env
cargo install ttl

# 3. Run ttl
sudo ttl 8.8.8.8

WSL2 has full network stack access, so all ttl features work including ICMP, UDP, and TCP probes.

When to Use Each Tool

Use ttl when you need:

  • Path MTU Discovery (PMTUD)
  • NAT detection along the path
  • Internet Exchange (IX) point identification
  • Session replay for historical analysis
  • Multiple simultaneous targets
  • ICMP rate limit detection

Use Trippy when you need:

  • World map visualization
  • More mature/stable tool
  • Wider platform support

Use MTR when you need:

  • Available by default on most systems
  • Simple, well-known interface
  • Lightweight resource usage

Use NextTrace when you need:

  • China-optimized IP geolocation
  • Multiple geolocation database support
  • Map visualization

Platform Support

Platform ttl Trippy MTR NextTrace
Linux ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
macOS ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Windows ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅
BSD 🚧 ✅ ✅ ❌