For years, honeypots have been a go-to strategy for detecting intrusions, gathering threat intelligence, and deceiving adversaries inside networks. From open-source labs to enterprise SOCs, they’ve evolved from basic fake services into powerful tools for defense and insight.

But even if you’ve deployed honeypots before, you might be wondering which solution makes sense now—especially with modern expectations around integrations, ease of use, data residency, and support.

Here are some common reasons teams start looking for a new honeypot platform:

• Ease of deployment – Some honeypots still feel like research projects. Today, teams want fast setup with minimal overhead.
  
• Protocol realism – To fool modern attackers, decoys need to mimic real systems convincingly—across IT, OT, and cloud.
  
• Budget vs capability – From fully open-source options to enterprise-grade deception grids, the cost–value equation matters more than ever.
  

Whether you're after a one-click commercial product, a forensic-grade SSH honeypot, or an open-source malware trap, this guide compares six top honeypot platforms across pricing, features, and ideal use cases to help you choose the best fit for your environment in 2025.

TL;DR

Only have 30 seconds? Here’s what you need to know:

• If you want plug-and-play ease with EU hosting and transparent pricing, start with SecurityHive.
  
• If you need enterprise-grade integrations and automated response, go with FortiDeceptor.
  
• If you want a set-it-and-forget-it honeypot that just works, pick Thinkst Canary.
  
• If you're a security engineer looking for full-stack, open-source flexibility, deploy T-Pot.
  
• If you need deep insight into SSH/Telnet attacks, run Cowrie.
  
• If your goal is malware collection across many protocols without spending a cent, choose Dionaea.

What to Look For

1. Interaction depth – Are you buying a banner emulator, a full virtual machine, or an adaptive AI shell?
   
2. Deployment effort – “Quick setup” should mean minutes, not days.
   
3. Configurability – Sensors, credentials, VLAN trunking and honeytokens matter when you need realism.
   
4. Integrations & automation – Webhooks, SIEM/SOAR bridges, chat alerts and ticketing keep the decoy connected.
   
5. Compliance & data residency – Where do the logs live and how are they encrypted?
   
6. Analytics – Dashboards, session replays, AI summarisation all shorten triage time.
   
7. Pricing predictability – Subscription, perpetual, per‑VLAN, or community licence: choose what scales with your estate.
   

Deep Dives

SecurityHive

EU-based honeypot platform with 7+ years of experience and unmatched ease-of-use

SecurityHive is a seasoned honeypot platform developed and hosted in the EU, with over 7 years of experience in the field. It stands out for its rapid deployment and exceptionally user-friendly approach. Whether you're a small SOC team or a large enterprise, you can spin up decoys in minutes — either as a physical plug-and-play device or a virtual image (VHDX/OVA) suitable for your infrastructure.

At the heart of the platform is the concept of "templates": predefined honeypot configurations that abstract away the underlying sensor logic. With a single click, you can deploy a decoy that mimics a Windows Server 2016 box, or a consumer IoT device like a UniFi Access Point. This approach lowers the learning curve dramatically, while still enabling rich interaction data for security analysts.

The free 14-day trial, activated directly via the website, offers a frictionless way to evaluate the product. No demo calls. No delays. Just deploy and observe.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 5/5
SecurityHive uses "templates" that preconfigure protocols like SSH, HTTP, and UPnP into convincing decoy profiles such as Windows Server 2016 or UniFi Access Points. These abstractions allow high-fidelity emulation without complex setup.

Deployment effort – 5/5
Truly plug-and-play. The honeypot is available as a physical device or virtual appliance (VHDX or OVA), and the 14-day trial can be started instantly from the website — no sales call, no waiting.

Configurability – 5/5
Templates provide one-click configuration for different decoy roles. Advanced users can fine-tune networking, services, and port exposure. Especially strong in constrained or segmented networks.

Integrations & automation – 3/5
The platform offers webhook support and some SIEM integrations, but this area is still evolving. Roadmap communication is clear and ongoing improvements are actively delivered.

Compliance & data residency – 5/5
SecurityHive is fully EU-hosted with strict data residency policies. All telemetry is encrypted, and deployment options allow easy compliance with GDPR and local standards.

Analytics – 5/5
Rich dashboards and detailed session logs provide clear insight. Replay features help analysts understand attacker behavior, and the UI shortens triage times significantly.

Pricing predictability – 4/5
Straightforward subscription pricing: €75/month per honeypot or yearly at a 25% discount. No surprise charges. Scaling is as simple as provisioning more decoys.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Unmatched ease of use with exceptional support
  From plug-and-play appliances to responsive, experienced support engineers, SecurityHive excels in delivering value without complexity.
  
• ✅ Transparent pricing with generous trial
  You can test a honeypot risk-free for 14 days, and pricing is crystal clear — no hidden fees or confusing licensing.
  
• ✅ EU-hosted with strong compliance focus
  For organizations operating under GDPR or national sovereignty requirements, SecurityHive ticks the right boxes.
  

❌ Cons

• ❌ Limited SIEM integrations out of the box
  While webhooks exist, integrations with popular SIEM/SOAR tools are limited — though this is improving rapidly.
  
• ❌ No active response features
  The platform focuses on detection and insight, not active blocking or containment.
  
• ❌ One identity per honeypot
  Each honeypot emulates a single device or service, so larger networks may need multiple instances for broad coverage.

💡 Takeaway

SecurityHive is ideal for EU-based organizations seeking a high-interaction honeypot that’s simple to deploy, easy to manage, and backed by an expert team. Its template-based design strikes a smart balance between realism and ease-of-use, and the trial-first approach is refreshingly buyer-friendly. While some integrations are still maturing, the core detection and analytics capabilities are battle-tested. For anyone seeking a honeypot that “just works” — this is it.

Thinkst Canary

Elegant, low-noise honeypot built by security researchers—not venture capitalists

Thinkst Applied Research is a South African cybersecurity company known for its laser-focused, research-driven products and its decision to stay small, bootstrapped, and independent. Their flagship product, Canary, is a honeypot solution designed around a simple idea: attackers trip wires; defenders get high-confidence alerts—no noise, no mess.

The company is best described as a craft security vendor, with a team of ~40 engineers, no VC funding, and customers on every continent. Canary honeypots are available in multiple form factors—hardware appliance, VM image, cloud instance, or container—and are centrally managed via a SaaS console with no need for firewall rule changes. A standout feature is Canarytokens, lightweight tripwires like fake API keys or documents that send alerts when touched. They’re included for free and can be deployed broadly across cloud, endpoints, and internal systems.

Canary’s strength lies in speed, reliability, and trust: it works out of the box, generates alerts only when something meaningful happens, and doesn’t upsell you halfway through deployment.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 5/5
Canary appliances can convincingly mimic Windows servers, routers, SCADA boxes, databases, and more. Custom TCP port services and personalities make it suitable for high-value decoy use cases.

Deployment effort – 5/5
Setup takes just minutes. Choose a “personality,” deploy a hardware or virtual instance, and monitor everything from a cloud console. Canarytokens can be dropped without even deploying a device.

Configurability – 4/5
Canary supports a variety of personalities and service emulations, with some customization available. It’s not as granular as some power-user tools, but more than sufficient for most real-world use.

Integrations & automation – 4/5
Integrations include SIEM/SOAR tools and alerting pipelines. Canarytokens integrate seamlessly into security workflows. Alerts are high signal, making automation safer.

Compliance & data residency – 3/5
The SaaS console is AWS-hosted with outbound-only beacons. Some customers may prefer an EU-hosted or self-hosted option for stricter data control and compliance reasons.

Analytics – 5/5
Alerts are clean, immediate, and context-rich. Canary emphasizes signal over dashboards, but triage is simple thanks to thoughtful UX design.

Pricing predictability – 3/5
Pricing starts at $5,000/year for 2 devices. There’s no trial option, and no monthly plans. That said, pricing includes full support and all updates—no upsells or tiering complexity.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Exceptionally fast setup with near-zero false positives
  SOC teams appreciate the clarity and reliability. Canary is in production within minutes.
  
• ✅ Community goodwill and tooling
  Free Canarytokens and the open-source OpenCanary project make it easy to experiment and build trust.
  
• ✅ Strong reputation, stable vendor
  Profitable, bootstrapped, and founder-led with 60%+ customer retention in the first year.
  

❌ Cons

• ❌ No self-service trial available
  There’s no instant trial via the website, and pricing assumes a yearly commitment up front.
  
• ❌ Limited flexibility for compliance-sensitive orgs
  Central console is AWS-hosted with no EU residency options currently listed.
  
• ❌ Price may be a barrier for small teams
  Starting at $5,000/year for two devices, it’s designed for quality and simplicity, not for lowest-cost deployment.

💡 Takeaway

Thinkst Canary is the honeypot for security teams who want fast deployment, minimal complexity, and total confidence in their alerts. It's perfect for defenders who need early warning without false positives or architectural upheaval. While the lack of a free trial and relatively high entry price may deter smaller teams, its technical elegance, thoughtful design, and reputation for reliability have made it a favorite across Fortune 500s, critical infrastructure providers, and lean blue teams alike. If you value quality over configurability and prefer a vendor that speaks your language, Canary deserves serious consideration.

FortiDeceptor

Enterprise-grade deception with deep Fortinet Fabric integration—and enterprise-grade pricing to match

Fortinet, founded in 2000 and headquartered in California, is one of the world’s top cybersecurity vendors. Best known for its Next-Gen Firewalls and Security Fabric platform, the company now brings its scale and integration-first approach to network deception with FortiDeceptor.

The product is agentless, meaning it doesn’t require deployment to endpoints. Instead, it spins up network decoys—Windows servers, Linux boxes, PLCs, cloud service APIs—and waits for attackers to take the bait. Meanwhile, breadcrumb tokens (e.g., fake credentials, documents, RDP links) steer adversaries into these traps. Once a decoy is touched, FortiDeceptor raises a high-fidelity alert that can be used to auto-quarantine attackers via FortiGate, feed analytics into FortiSIEM, or kick off investigations in FortiAnalyzer.

It’s offered as a hardware appliance, VM image, container, or SaaS service. A centralized console manages all decoys and tokens, while Fabric integration enables full workflow automation. Fortinet also provides a demo center for hands-on evaluation, and partners can issue trial licenses—though a self-service PoC isn’t available like with some modern SaaS competitors.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 5/5
FortiDeceptor offers sophisticated, full-OS decoys across IT, OT, IoT, and cloud environments. Decoys include Windows and Linux servers, ICS/SCADA devices, routers, and more.

Deployment effort – 2/5
Setup is fast in Fortinet-heavy environments, but deployment can be complex in segmented or mixed-vendor networks. Licensing quirks (e.g., VLAN-based) and multiple form factors can add friction.

Configurability – 5/5
Decoy types, services, and fake credentials (breadcrumbs) are highly configurable. You can model real infrastructure closely and guide attacker behavior with precision.

Integrations & automation – 5/5
Tight integrations with the broader Fortinet Security Fabric: decoy events can automatically trigger playbooks in FortiSIEM, initiate quarantines via FortiGate, and feed analytics into FortiAnalyzer.

Compliance & data residency – 3/5
Appliance and VM options offer on-prem control, but SaaS variant may lack region-specific residency assurances. Central management console pricing is by seat/device, with some deployment nuance.

Analytics – 5/5
Alerts fire only on legitimate interactions. Each includes rich metadata (packet capture, IOCs, host info), and integrates seamlessly into centralized Fortinet dashboards.

Pricing predictability – 1/5
FortiDeceptor is priced for the enterprise: per-VLAN licensing (~$1,260/year), appliances at $30k+, and management seats sold separately. Free trials require partner involvement or a demo portal.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Deep integration into Fortinet ecosystem
  FortiDeceptor fits neatly into FortiGate, FortiSIEM, and FortiAnalyzer pipelines with zero extra agents.
  
• ✅ High-fidelity alerts with rich intel
  Alerts include full packet capture, IOC data, and attacker context—ideal for SOCs and forensics.
  
• ✅ Breadth of decoy coverage
  Templates span traditional IT, industrial OT, IoT, and cloud—making it one of the most versatile solutions in terms of target emulation.
  

❌ Cons

• ❌ Expensive and rigid pricing model
  Licensing by VLAN (/24) means costs rise quickly in flat or highly segmented networks. Add-ons and seats compound this.
  
• ❌ Setup is not always “plug-and-play”
  Especially outside Fortinet-native environments, getting up and running takes time, and remote sites may need additional hardware or VM deployments.
  
• ❌ No easy self-serve trial
  While Fortinet offers a browser-based demo and partner-issued trials, there’s no instant download or signup-based test-drive.
  

💡 Takeaway

FortiDeceptor is a powerhouse honeypot platform built for large, Fortinet-aligned organizations that value deep integration, high realism, and automated response. Its deception capabilities are top-tier—particularly for OT and IoT use cases—but come with enterprise-grade pricing and some setup complexity. If you're already invested in the Fortinet Security Fabric, FortiDeceptor makes a lot of sense. But for smaller orgs or teams without Forti infrastructure, the learning curve, licensing model, and entry price may feel like overkill.

T‑Pot

Open-source powerhouse with 20+ honeypots and Elastic dashboards, from Telekom Security

T-Pot is Deutsche Telekom Security’s open-source honeypot platform, designed as an all-in-one, Dockerized stack combining more than 20 protocol-specific honeypots, rich analytics via the Elastic Stack, and attacker-facing tools like CyberChef and SpiderFoot. It runs on everything from cloud VMs to Raspberry Pi 4 and supports both x86 and ARM64 architectures.

T-Pot can run stand-alone or as part of a distributed cluster with a central log server and multiple sensors. Recent versions have introduced LLM-driven interaction modules, letting tools like Beelzebub (SSH) and Galah (HTTP) generate more dynamic attacker engagement via Ollama or ChatGPT.

Deployment is straightforward for skilled users—a single-line installer or ISO image starts the stack. But like many open tools, it assumes you can manage Docker, Elasticsearch, and network exposure safely. There's no official SLA unless you contract Deutsche Telekom, but the GitHub community is active, and regular updates keep the platform modern and useful.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 4/5
T-Pot combines over 20 honeypots—ranging from Cowrie and Conpot to LLM-driven decoys like Beelzebub and Galah—into one cohesive platform. Interaction quality is good, especially with newer AI-backed modules.

Deployment effort – 3/5
A single command or prebuilt ISO gets you running quickly. But deployment still involves Docker, Elasticsearch, reverse proxies, and some infrastructure tuning—especially if you’re new to containerized security stacks.

Configurability – 4/5
T-Pot is highly extensible. You can add honeypots, external feeds, and even connect your own LLMs. However, deep customization requires some Linux/Docker fluency.

Integrations & automation – 4/5
Out-of-the-box support for Elastic dashboards, attack maps, CyberChef, SpiderFoot, and syslog makes it easy to plug into existing workflows. Custom webhook or SIEM output requires manual setup.

Compliance & data residency – 4/5
You host it where you want—cloud, on-prem, or even Raspberry Pi. No SaaS backhaul or data sharing by default. GDPR compliance is a matter of where and how you deploy.

Analytics – 4/5
Beautiful Kibana dashboards and real-time attack maps make it easy to see what’s happening. But Elastic’s RAM needs and tuning quirks can affect stability on under-provisioned systems.

Pricing predictability – 5/5
T-Pot Community Edition is 100% free and open-source (GPL‑3.0). The only cost is your VM or hardware. Commercial support is optional and priced per engagement by Telekom Security.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Rich out-of-the-box sensor stack
  Includes over 20 honeypots, live attack map, Elastic dashboards, CyberChef, and more—all in one deployment.
  
• ✅ Fully open-source and self-hostable
  No license fees. Deploy wherever you want with full data control—ideal for GDPR-conscious teams.
  
• ✅ Active community and fast iteration
  8k+ GitHub stars, frequent releases, and bleeding-edge features like LLM-based honeypots.

❌ Cons

• ❌ High resource usage
  Elasticsearch and Kibana need at least 16 GB RAM for stable operation. Disks fill quickly without log rotation.
  
• ❌ Steep learning curve
  Misconfiguration is easy for beginners. Full-stack knowledge (Docker, reverse proxying, ports) is required.
  
• ❌ No formal support unless paid
  The platform is provided “as-is.” If you hit trouble, help comes via GitHub, not a hotline.
  

💡 Takeaway

T-Pot is the most feature-rich open-source honeypot platform available today—ideal for researchers, SOCs, or advanced users who want total control and cost transparency. It offers incredible value for teams willing to manage it themselves. You’ll get multi-protocol decoys, visual dashboards, and bleeding-edge honeypot tech with zero vendor lock-in. Just be prepared for higher operational effort and occasional tuning headaches. If you have the skills (or cloud credits), it’s a must-try.

Cowrie

Granular SSH/Telnet honeypot with deep attacker visibility and zero licensing cost

Cowrie is a long-standing, community-maintained SSH and Telnet honeypot designed to give defenders deep visibility into attacker behavior. It originated as a fork of Kippo in 2014 and has grown into a respected tool within the threat intelligence and research community.

Unlike low-interaction decoys, Cowrie simulates a convincing Linux-like shell and fake file system, recording every command an intruder types. It also supports a “proxy mode”, where traffic is relayed to a real backend system while Cowrie logs the full session transparently. File uploads, downloads, TCP tunneling, and session replays are all captured.

Cowrie is not backed by a company—it’s maintained by Dutch engineer Michel Oosterhof and an active volunteer community. You can run it on bare metal, in containers, or as part of larger deception frameworks like T-Pot or Modern Honey Net. There's no commercial support SLA, but the GitHub project is alive and well, with frequent community patches and issue resolutions.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 4/5
Cowrie emulates a full shell environment and filesystem for SSH/Telnet attackers. It also offers a proxy mode that transparently routes sessions to real backend VMs for high-fidelity capture.

Deployment effort – 3/5
Installation is straightforward for Linux users, with Docker and Ansible options available. However, tuning requires familiarity with Python virtualenvs, port forwarding, and log shipping.

Configurability – 3/5
Custom filesystem trees and shell responses can be tailored, but configuration is mostly manual. Protocol scope is limited to SSH and Telnet without third-party plugins or code extensions.

Integrations & automation – 2/5
Cowrie supports output via JSON, syslog, ELK/Opensearch, Splunk, Prometheus, MQTT, and more—but lacks built-in webhook orchestration or native SIEM dashboards.

Compliance & data residency – 4/5
You control the deployment, hosting, and telemetry flow. Cowrie doesn’t report data externally unless you configure it to.

Analytics – 4/5
Full TTY session replays, file captures, TCP requests, and metadata provide rich forensic insight. However, there’s no GUI—visualization is left to your SIEM or custom tools.

Pricing predictability – 5/5
Cowrie is fully free and open-source (2-clause BSD). There are no license fees, trials, or subscriptions. Cost is limited to infrastructure and your time.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Granular attacker telemetry
  Full command transcripts, file captures, and session replays provide valuable insight into adversary behavior.
  
• ✅ Free and open-source
  Fully licensed under BSD with no fees or limitations. Transparent, extensible, and battle-tested.
  
• ✅ Lightweight and flexible deployment
  Easily runs on Docker, VMs, Raspberry Pi, or bare-metal. Plugins and output formats cover many use cases.
  

❌ Cons

• ❌ Setup requires some Linux and security expertise
  Cowrie needs manual configuration, and misconfigurations (e.g., exposed services) can weaken its effectiveness or become risky.
  
• ❌ Narrow protocol support
  Only SSH and Telnet are supported natively. You'll need other honeypots or wrappers for HTTP, SMB, or MQTT deception.
  
• ❌ No commercial support
  Enterprises wanting a support contract or help desk must turn to third-party vendors or self-support via GitHub and Slack.
  
• ❌ Easily fingerprinted if left unmodified
  Default filesystem, banners, and behaviors are widely known and detectable unless customized.

💡 Takeaway

Cowrie is the go-to open-source honeypot for teams that want detailed SSH/Telnet telemetry without vendor lock-in or license fees. It’s perfect for researchers, threat hunters, and defenders who know their way around Linux and want fine-grained visibility. However, its narrow protocol scope and lack of commercial backing mean it’s best used as a component in a broader deception stack—not a one-stop solution. For its price (free) and insight depth, Cowrie remains a top-tier tool in any blue team’s toolbox.

Dionaea

Low-interaction malware trap with broad protocol coverage and zero cost of entry

Dionaea is a long-running open-source honeypot designed to capture malware across multiple network services. It was created by Markus Koetter under the Honeynet Project and is now maintained by the volunteer-run DinoTools GitHub organization. Dionaea emulates protocols like SMB, HTTP, FTP, MySQL, SIP, and UPnP to attract malicious payloads and analyze them in a controlled environment.

Despite being a low-interaction honeypot, Dionaea is prized for its breadth of protocol coverage and ability to detect and extract shellcode via libemu. It supports full artefact capture (binary payloads, session logs, service requests) and integrates into deception platforms like T-Pot and Community Honey Network, where it often acts as the primary malware sensor.

There’s no central console or dashboard included, but Dionaea plays well with SIEM tools via syslog or JSON output. Docker containers and integration scripts make deployment easier than in years past, though tuning and upkeep are still manual. As with many open tools, there’s no official support, but community contributions remain active.

🔍 Evaluation

Interaction depth – 2/5
Dionaea focuses on malware collection, not interaction. It emulates common services like SMB, FTP, HTTP, and MySQL but doesn’t offer shell access or attacker engagement beyond protocol handshake and payload collection.

Deployment effort – 3/5
Installation is moderately simple via Docker or integration into Community Honey Network (CHN). However, tuning log rotation, protocol emulation, and traffic shaping requires manual effort.

Configurability – 3/5
Service modules can be enabled or disabled and some fake responses adjusted, but the interaction logic is mostly static. Not designed for mimicking specific OSes or applications.

Integrations & automation – 2/5
Dionaea supports output via JSON, syslog, and ELK/Opensearch, but lacks native webhooks, ticketing, or real-time automation hooks. Dashboards must be set up separately (e.g., with Kibana).

Compliance & data residency – 4/5
Self-hosted with no cloud dependency. You control where and how logs are stored and processed, ensuring easy compliance with data locality and retention policies.

Analytics – 3/5
Rich artefacts are captured—like payloads, shellcode, session metadata—but analysis and dashboards are up to the user. Default logs grow large and require aggressive rotation.

Pricing predictability – 5/5
Fully free and open-source (GPL‑2.0). No license cost, no vendor lock-in. Paid cloud images exist, but are optional and community-built.

✅ Pros

• ✅ Broad protocol emulation for malware collection
  Covers SMB, HTTP, FTP, MySQL, and more—ideal for attracting and analyzing diverse payloads.
  
• ✅ Free and open-source with active community
  Licensed under GPL‑2.0. No cost, no registration. Docker builds and GitHub discussions keep it usable.
  
• ✅ Easy to integrate into larger stacks
  Compatible with CHN, T-Pot, ELK pipelines, and Docker-based deployments.
  

❌ Cons

• ❌ Limited attacker engagement
  No shell access or proxying. Not useful for behavioral analysis or attacker interaction studies.
  
• ❌ Can be fingerprinted easily
  Default banners and responses are detectable unless modified. Sophisticated attackers may evade it.
  
• ❌ No built-in UI or dashboards
  You’ll need to roll your own analytics layer or integrate with ELK. Log files can grow rapidly if left unmanaged.
  
• ❌ Maintenance is community-driven
  The project is not backed by a commercial entity, and update cadence varies. No SLA or guaranteed fixes.
  

💡 Takeaway

Dionaea is a solid choice for teams seeking a free, protocol-diverse honeypot to capture malware across commonly abused services. It shines in malware research and passive collection roles, especially when embedded in broader honeynet deployments. While its low-interaction design and lack of polish limit it as a standalone solution, it remains a powerful tool for defenders who want actionable artefacts without paying for enterprise-grade deception tech.

Next steps

In conclusion, the honeypot landscape in 2025 offers more choice than ever—ranging from open-source malware traps to deeply integrated deception appliances. The “right” honeypot for your team depends on your goals, budget, and how much control (or support) you need:

• If you’re looking for enterprise-ready deception with powerful integrations, FortiDeceptor delivers broad protocol coverage, auto-quarantine capabilities, and tight Fortinet Fabric hooks—just be prepared for the price tag and licensing complexity.
  
• For teams who value speed, simplicity, and signal over noise, Thinkst Canary is a standout. It’s quick to deploy, extremely low-maintenance, and trusted by defenders worldwide—though it comes at a premium and doesn’t offer a free trial.
  
• Need a compliant, EU-hosted solution with fantastic ease-of-use? SecurityHive gives you plug-and-play honeypots with one-click templates, transparent pricing, and strong support—all without meetings or red tape.
  
• If you want maximum flexibility and open-source depth, T-Pot is hard to beat. It’s a honeypot Swiss army knife that runs dozens of services, supports ARM and x86, and even includes LLM-powered interaction modules. Just bring enough RAM and Docker skills.
  
• For focused SSH/Telnet research or forensic-level insight, Cowrie offers high-fidelity session capture and proxy capabilities in a lightweight, no-cost package. It’s not flashy, but it’s deeply respected in the threat intel community.
  
• And if your priority is malware capture across common protocols (SMB, HTTP, FTP, etc.), Dionaea remains a reliable and free low-interaction workhorse—especially when integrated into stacks like CHN or T-Pot.
  

All of these tools are either open-source or offer some form of trial or demo access. We recommend starting with a small deployment or lab evaluation, whether that's spinning up T-Pot on a cloud VM, grabbing a SecurityHive trial, or playing with Canarytokens.

The good news? You don’t need a six-figure budget to gain visibility into attacker behavior. With the right honeypot—or combination of them—you can start building internal deception layers today that enhance detection, threat intel, and incident response tomorrow. Happy trapping!

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