Freedom251 › Bandwidth Monitoring Software

bwmon

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hostedWeb

What bwmon is

bwmon is a free, self-hosted bandwidth monitor for a single Linux host. Its live panel polls receive and transmit rates every second, charts traffic, and lists top processes. When interface traffic rises above five times its rolling two-minute average, bwmon records process attribution, all-interface rates, and leading connection-tracking flows to help investigate the spike. It retains five-minute samples for six months, with views from one hour through all time, a time-of-week heatmap, and a rate histogram. A banner appears when the rolling five-minute average reaches 40 Mbps, and cleared alerts remain in the history table. Installation uses a shell script to set up the collector, systemd service, cron jobs, and nginx server block; the dashboard opens on port 8080 by default. bwmon requires Linux kernel 4.0 or later, root access, and one network interface. The installer uses apt on Debian and Ubuntu; other distributions require manual dependency installation. The project describes the software as self-hosted, with no agents, cloud service, or signup. Its MIT license allows free use, and its README recommends authentication when exposing the bundled web server to the internet.

Who it suits

bwmon suits someone investigating bandwidth use on one Linux host who can install and maintain self-hosted software. It is not presented for multi-host or long-horizon analytics.

What it does well

Live receive and transmit rates refresh every second.
Records process attribution when traffic spikes.
Keeps five-minute samples for six months.
Licensed under MIT.

What to know first

Monitors only one network interface.
Requires Linux kernel 4.0 or later and root access.
Other distributions need manual dependency installation.
Internet-exposed installs need authentication precautions.

Limits

bwmon is limited to one network interface on a single Linux host. The project says six months of history uses at most 50 MB per interface.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
bwmon	Single Linux host · self-hosted · MIT license	Free

As github.com lists them, read 3 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Use a Linux host with kernel 4.0 or later and root access.
On Debian or Ubuntu, run the project’s installer with sudo ./setup.sh.
On another distribution, install nginx, PHP-FPM, PHP CLI, and nethogs manually before setup.
Open the dashboard at the host on port 8080 by default.
If exposing the bundled web server to the internet, put it behind an authenticated reverse proxy or add basic authentication.

Verdict

bwmon combines live process visibility with spike records and six months of local history for a single host. Its Linux, root-access, and interface limits make it a focused self-hosted option.

Questions

How much does bwmon cost?

The free plan costs nothing. The project is MIT-licensed.

What does bwmon monitor?

It monitors bandwidth on one Linux host and one network interface, showing live RX/TX rates and process attribution.

Which systems does it require?

It requires a Linux host with kernel 4.0 or later and root access. Debian and Ubuntu use the apt-based installer; other distributions require manual dependency installation.

Is bwmon self-hosted?

Yes. The project describes it as self-hosted, with no agents, cloud service, or signup required.

How does it identify traffic spikes?

When interface traffic exceeds five times its rolling two-minute average, it records process attribution, all-interface rates, and top conntrack flows.

Does bwmon have alerts?

A banner appears when the rolling five-minute average reaches 40 Mbps, and cleared alerts remain in the history table.

Facts from bwmon's own pages

Alerts: A banner appears when the rolling five-minute average reaches 40 Mbps, and cleared alerts remain in the history table. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Distribution support: The installer uses apt for Debian and Ubuntu, while other distributions require manually installing nginx, PHP-FPM, PHP CLI, and nethogs. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
History: bwmon stores five-minute samples for six months and offers views from one hour through all time, with adaptive bucketing. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
History and analytics: It retains five-minute samples for six months and provides 1h, 24h, 7d, 30d, 6m, and all-time views, plus a time-of-week heatmap and rate histogram. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Install: The project describes a one-command install using sudo ./setup.sh and opens its dashboard at the host on port 8080 by default. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Installation: Installation uses a one-command shell script that sets up the collector, systemd service, cron jobs, and nginx server block. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Integrations and dependencies: The installer can install nethogs, php-fpm, php-cli, and nginx; runtime JavaScript uses a vendored Plotly Basic build. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Intended use: The README presents bwmon for investigating bandwidth use on a single host and says multi-host or long-horizon analytics call for heavier tools. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Interface limit: The project describes monitoring one network interface, auto-detected from the default route unless overridden. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
License: The project is licensed under MIT. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Live monitoring: The live panel polls RX/TX every second and shows a rolling chart and top processes. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Privacy and hosting: The project describes itself as self-hosted, with no agents, cloud service, or signup required. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Process attribution: A daemonized nethogs process writes top talkers to a JSON file about every two seconds for the web UI to read. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Purpose: bwmon monitors bandwidth on a single Linux host, with live RX/TX, per-process attribution, spike forensics, and six months of history. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Requirements: It requires a Linux host with kernel 4.0 or later and root access; the installer uses apt, while other distributions require manual dependency installation. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Requirements and limits: bwmon requires Linux kernel 4.0 or later, root access, and one network interface to monitor; six months of history uses at most 50 MB per interface. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Resource use: The README says six months of history uses at most 50 MB per interface and the bwprocs daemon uses less than one percent of a CPU core at idle. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Security: The bundled nginx server block is open; the README recommends putting internet-exposed installs behind an authenticated reverse proxy or adding basic authentication. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026
Spike forensics: When interface traffic exceeds five times its rolling two-minute average, bwmon records process attribution, all-interface rates, and top conntrack flows. · github.com, 3 Oct 2026

Where bwmon stands on Freedom251

Bandwidth Monitoring Software#3 of 33