Comparison

Charles Proxy vs MQTTAnalyzer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Charles Proxy

Capture and inspect network requests and responses directly on your iOS device. Debug networking issues without needing a computer. View detailed metadata, headers, and bodies, and even transfer sessions to a desktop for further analysis.

Highlights
  • Capture network requests and responses
  • Inspect metadata, headers, and bodies
  • SSL Proxying for plain text viewing
  • Measure network performance
  • Block requests to specific hosts
  • DNS spoofing
Features
Read full description

Charles Proxy for iOS lets you capture, inspect and modify network requests and responses on your iOS device. You can view metadata, headers and bodies in the app, so you can finally debug your app’s networking issues without a computer. Charles Proxy for iOS is an app from the creator of Charles Proxy for desktop. HOW IT WORKS Turn Charles on when you want to start capturing. Charles captures your network requests and responses in the background while you test your app or website. Return to Charles to inspect the requests and responses. If you also have Charles on your desktop, you can transfer recorded sessions to your desktop to explore them on the big screen. Charles creates a local VPN on your device. All of your network traffic passes through Charles on your device, and then out to the internet as usual over either WiFi or Mobile / Cellular data. There is no remote server involved, and your data always remains private to you. FEATURES * SSL Proxying to view SSL requests in plain text * View and share request and responses bodies * Syntax highlighting for text request and response bodies * Measure network performance over WiFi or Mobile / Cellular networks * Block requests to nominated hosts * DNS spoofing

About

MQTTAnalyzer

Monitor and debug MQTT brokers on your Apple devices. Visualize data with hierarchical views, JSON highlighting, and charts. Publish messages, manage multiple brokers, and sync settings across devices. Free and open source.

Highlights
  • MQTT 3.1.1 and 5.0 support
  • JSON highlighting and pretty-printing
  • Time series charts for numeric values
  • Connect to multiple brokers
  • Full-text search
  • Publish messages
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Monitor and debug your MQTT broker from iPhone, iPad, or Mac. MQTTAnalyzer is the essential tool for smart home enthusiasts, IoT developers, and anyone working with MQTT-based systems. Free, open source, and no ads. CONNECT WITH CONFIDENCE • MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5.0 support • MQTT and WebSocket connections • SSL/TLS with ALPN and server CA certificate validation • Username/password and client certificate authentication • Support for self-signed certificates • Predefined settings for AWS IoT • Connection diagnostics to identify issues quickly VISUALIZE YOUR DATA • Hierarchical topic tree view • JSON highlighting and pretty-printing • Time series charts for numeric values • ANSI color code rendering • Image viewer with pinch-to-zoom (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, and more) • Hex viewer for binary payloads STAY ORGANIZED • Connect to multiple brokers simultaneously • Subscribe to multiple topics per broker • Full-text search across topics and messages • Unread message indicators • Statistics panel with message counts • Large payload support (10MB+) with export PUBLISH AND CONTROL • Publish messages with QoS and retain flag • JSON message builder with form interface • Delete retained messages from broker • Siri shortcuts for quick actions SYNC ACROSS DEVICES • iCloud sync for settings and certificates • Native experience on iPhone, iPad, and Mac Have feedback or feature requests? Visit our GitHub page — MQTTAnalyzer is open source and community-driven.

Screenshots

Charles Proxy4 screens
MQTTAnalyzer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MQTTAnalyzer at Free against Charles Proxy's $8.99. MQTTAnalyzer also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). Charles Proxy's advantage is ratings volume (187 vs 22). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

MQTTAnalyzer is free to download; Charles Proxy costs $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MQTTAnalyzer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Charles Proxy has 187 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Charles Proxy's written reviews are positive against 78% of MQTTAnalyzer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Charles Proxy ships an update every 2 months, MQTTAnalyzer every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Charles Proxy versus MQTTAnalyzer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCharles ProxyMQTTAnalyzer
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (187 ratings)4.5 (22 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.9% of reviews77.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings187 — better22
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperXK72 LimitedPhilipp Arndt

Customer experience

Charles Proxy

All ratings187 ratings
Positive74.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative19.8%
Written reviews231 reviews
Positive51.9%
Neutral11.7%
Negative36.4%

MQTTAnalyzer

All ratings22 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%

Bugs and requests

Charles Proxy

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Doesn't work with latest iOS versions
  • Fails to export sessions frequently
  • Incompatible with apps using VPN
  • Large JSON bodies not displayed properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to edit and replay requests
  • Improve JSON viewer and formatting
  • Add support for WebSockets
  • Provide option to map to local
  • Add scripting and breakpoint features

MQTTAnalyzer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Charles Proxy

No in-app purchases

None

MQTTAnalyzer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Charles Proxy free?
Charles Proxy costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MQTTAnalyzer free?
MQTTAnalyzer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Charles Proxy or MQTTAnalyzer?
MQTTAnalyzer is rated higher. Charles Proxy averages 4.0 out of 5 from 187 ratings, while MQTTAnalyzer averages 4.5 from 22 ratings.
Do Charles Proxy or MQTTAnalyzer have ads?
Neither Charles Proxy nor MQTTAnalyzer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Charles Proxy or MQTTAnalyzer?
Charles Proxy ships an update every 2 months, and MQTTAnalyzer every 5 days. Most recently, Charles Proxy was updated on September 30, 2026 and MQTTAnalyzer on September 21, 2026.

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