Comparison

Surge 5 vs Berty Labs

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

Head to head
About

Surge 5

This advanced network utility allows developers to intercept, process, and forward network traffic. It offers deep control over connections, including URL redirection, local file mapping, and HTTPS decryption. Ideal for debugging and network analysis.

Highlights
  • Network connection takeover
  • Modify network requests/responses
  • Forward traffic to other proxies
  • Intercept and save network data
  • Decrypt HTTPS traffic
  • Rule-based forwarding
  • Ad blocking by domain
Features
Read full description

Surge is an advanced network toolbox and proxy utility. It is designed for developers and therefore requires professional knowledge to use. These four capabilities form the core workflow of Surge: · Takeover: Take over the network connections sent by the device. Surge supports both proxy service and virtual NIC takeover, capturing HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, and UDP traffic from any app — even those ignoring proxy settings. All features work on the cellular network. · Processing: Modify the requests and responses that have been taken over: URL rewrite, header and body rewrite, local file mapping, custom DNS answers, and JavaScript-based modification. · Forwarding: Forward requests to proxy servers, either globally or driven by a flexible rule system. Policy groups select the best server automatically by latency, availability, or learned connection quality. · Intercept: Record and inspect requests and responses, including headers and bodies, and decrypt HTTPS traffic with MITM. Highlighted Features · Proxy protocols: HTTP/HTTPS, SOCKS5, SOCKS5-TLS, HTTP2 CONNECT, TrustTunnel, Shadowsocks, Snell, Trojan, Hysteria 2, AnyTLS, and SSH, with UDP relay support. · Used as a WireGuard or Tailscale client, converting the L3 VPN into a proxy policy. · Rules based on domain match/suffix/keyword/wildcard, CIDR IP range, GeoIP, ASN, protocol, port, and logical combinations; reusable rule sets hosted locally or remotely. · Policy groups: manual selection, automatic latency testing, fallback, load balancing, and the self-learning Smart group. · Complete DNS suite: DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-HTTP/3, DNS-over-QUIC, DNS-over-TLS, and concurrent queries for the fastest answer. · Local DNS mapping (equivalent to /etc/hosts) with wildcards, aliases, and per-domain DNS servers. Switch your app between production and development environments without changing any code. · Decrypt HTTPS traffic with Man-in-the-Middle and a built-in CA certificate generator. · Record and display HTTP requests and responses with JSON, text, image, and video viewers for the captured body; album mode for the request list; pre-filter for capturing. · Raw L3 packet capture. · Scripting: extend Surge with JavaScript — modify requests and responses, write custom rules, customize DNS answers, and run scheduled tasks. · Block unwanted requests by rules with high-performance pre-matching. · Measure traffic usage and network speed on Wi-Fi, cellular, and proxy connections. · Remote Dashboard: observe and debug traffic in real time from a Mac via Wi-Fi or USB, including cellular traffic. · Surge Ponte: access your home or office network remotely via your own devices, with no third-party service involved. · HTTPS proxy protocol supports client-side TLS certificate validation. · Safari extension to add rules; widgets and Information Panel for quick control. · Sync profiles across devices with iCloud Drive or Dropbox. · Full IPv6 support, TLS 1.3, HTTP/2, and QUIC. · High performance and industrial-grade stability, suitable for intensive use. Surge does not provide any proxy or VPN service; you need to configure your own servers. You may read the online manual for more information: https://nssurge.com/support Terms and Conditions: https://nssurge.com/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://nssurge.com/legal/privacy

About

Berty Labs

Explore the decentralized web on your mobile device. This app offers tools to analyze the IPFS network, browse decentralized art collections, and check service health. It's designed for those curious about peer-to-peer technologies.

Highlights
  • IPFS Network Analysis Interface
  • Decentralized Art Collection Browser
  • Service Health Checker
  • Gateway Race Tool
  • Peer-to-Peer Technology Exploration
Features
Read full description

Berty Labs is a server less application using IPFS, gathering tools & examples to discover peer-to-peer on mobile. Features: - IPFS WebUI : An Interface for IPFS Network Analysis - Art Collection : Browser a decentralized art collection using IPFS - Services Health : Allowing you to check services health - Gateways Race : Run race between gomobile and pinata More tools are coming soon, for all IPFS and peer-to-peer curious people, developers, and innovators! This application is powered by Berty Technologies, non-profit developing open source technologies for free.

Screenshots

Surge 54 screens
Berty Labs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Berty Labs at none against Surge 5's 2. Berty Labs also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 51%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). Surge 5's advantage is ratings volume (994 vs 4) and rating (4.1 vs 3.8). On price, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Surge 5 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Berty Labs asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Surge 5 holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Surge 5 has 994 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 51% of Surge 5's written reviews are positive against 75% of Berty Labs's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Surge 5 versus Berty Labs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSurge 5Berty Labs
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (994 ratings) — better3.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews51.5% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings994 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#8 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSurge Networks Inc.Berty Technologies

Customer experience

Surge 5

All ratings994 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral2.4%
Negative20.5%
Written reviews447 reviews
Positive51.5%
Neutral4.3%
Negative44.3%

Berty Labs

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Surge 5

Subscriptions1
  • Feature Subscription$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Surge Pro$49.99
None

Berty Labs

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Surge 5 free?
Surge 5 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Berty Labs free?
Berty Labs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Surge 5 or Berty Labs?
Surge 5 is rated higher. Surge 5 averages 4.1 out of 5 from 994 ratings, while Berty Labs averages 3.8 from 4 ratings.
Do Surge 5 or Berty Labs have ads?
Neither Surge 5 nor Berty Labs shows ads.

Other comparisons