Endlessh

Linux · Self-hosted

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Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.4

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely1 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Endlessh is ranked #6 of 18 in honeypot software on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

Endlessh plans and pricing

All plans

Endlessh Free SSH tarpit · standalone C program · maximum 4096 clients by default github.com · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on honeypot software

Deployment model: self-hosted
Decoy scope: network
Credential lures: No

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The record

Purpose: Endlessh slowly sends an endless, random SSH banner to keep SSH clients occupied for hours or days.
Use case: The project describes placing a real SSH server on another port so unwanted SSH clients get stuck in the tarpit instead.
Implementation: Endlessh is a standalone, single-threaded C program that uses poll() to handle multiple clients.
Cryptography: The banner is sent before any cryptographic exchange, so the program does not depend on cryptographic libraries.
Banner controls: The delay between messages defaults to 10000 milliseconds, and the maximum banner line length defaults to 32 characters.
Connection limit: The maximum number of clients defaults to 4096, and excess connections wait in the queue.
Network support: Endlessh supports IPv4 and IPv6, with options to bind to either address family alone.
Logging: Diagnostics are quiet by default; repeatable verbosity flags enable standard and debug logging, and logs can be sent to syslog.
Configuration: The configuration file uses syntax similar to OpenSSH and defaults to /etc/endlessh/config.
Signals: SIGTERM gracefully shuts down the daemon, SIGHUP reloads its configuration, and SIGUSR1 prints connection statistics to the log.
License: The repository identifies its license as the Unlicense.
Build platforms: The project documents build adjustments for RHEL 6/CentOS 6, Solaris/illumos, and OpenBSD.
Integrations: The README describes logging to standard output or syslog and does not list third-party service integrations.
Support: The repository provides GitHub Issues and Pull Requests for project discussion and contributions.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Honeypot Software in 2026#6 of 18

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Sources

github.com/skeeto/endlessh· checked 4 Oct 2026