IP Scanner and Fing are the two names that come up most when you want to see every device on your network, but they're built on opposite philosophies. IP Scanner is the original, native, private network scanner for the Apple ecosystem. Fing is a cross-platform, cloud-connected app. Here's an honest, side-by-side comparison.
| IP Scanner Ultra | Fing | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Native Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch | iOS, Android, Windows, web |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Where scanning happens | On your device (local, private) | Cloud-connected |
| Pricing | One-time purchase · no ads | Free with ads · Premium subscription · Fingbox hardware |
| Port Scan / Wake-on-LAN / IPv6 | Yes | Limited / Premium |
| Track record | The original, 15+ years on the Mac | Newer, VC-backed |
| Continuous scanning | Yes, IP Broadcaster companion, on Apple Watch & Vision Pro | Cloud monitoring + push alerts |
IP Scanner is designed for the Apple ecosystem from the ground up. It runs beautifully on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch, and feels like an Apple app because it is one. Fing is a single cross-platform product, so its iOS and Mac apps are a compromise across Android, Windows and the web.
With IP Scanner, the scan happens locally on your device, there's no account to create and nothing that has to be uploaded to a cloud service for the app to work. For anyone scanning a home, office or client network, that local-first, no-sign-up approach is a meaningful privacy advantage over a cloud-connected tool.
Some roundups lump IP Scanner in with lightweight "device list" utilities. That undersells it. IP Scanner Ultra includes Port Scan, Wake-on-LAN, Ping, Bonjour/service discovery, IPv6, vendor identification, and custom device names and icons, the toolkit IT professionals actually use, in a native interface. It's the scanner consultants have trusted for over a decade.
IP Scanner Ultra is a one-time purchase with no ads and no subscription. Fing leans on a free, ad-supported tier with upsells to a Premium subscription and Fingbox hardware. If you'd rather buy a tool once and own it, that's a real difference.
IP Scanner isn't just on-demand. Its free companion app, IP Broadcaster, uses the same IP Scanner engine to scan your network continuously and surface it on a glanceable Apple Watch app and a spatial Apple Vision Pro (visionOS) experience. Keeping an eye on your network from your wrist, or in 3D space, all locally, with no cloud account, is a genuinely unique capability that no cross-platform tool offers. See IP Broadcaster →
To be fair: if you live across Android and Windows as well as Apple, or you want cloud push alerts from anywhere when a new device joins, Fing's cloud platform does that. But for continuous monitoring on Apple devices, IP Scanner's IP Broadcaster, on Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, covers it natively and privately. Pick the one that matches your setup.
For Apple users who want a native, private app with a one-time purchase, IP Scanner is the better choice. Fing is better if you need Android/Windows support or always-on cloud monitoring.
No. IP Scanner needs no account and no cloud sign-up; scanning happens locally on your device. Ultra is a one-time purchase with no ads or subscription.
IP Scanner. It scans locally and doesn't require an account or cloud connection to work.
Download IP Scanner for FreeGet IP Scanner Ultra
IP Scanner is rated 4.6★ on the App Store. The original professional network scanner for Apple, native, private, and built for power users. ← Back to IP Scanner