Proxyman vs Tracer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Proxyman
This app acts as a web debugging proxy, allowing you to capture and inspect HTTP/HTTPS traffic directly from your iPhone or iPad. It decrypts requests and responses, offers advanced debugging tools, and ensures your sensitive data remains on your device.
- Capture & Inspect HTTP/HTTPS from iOS devices
- Decrypt and view requests/responses
- JSON syntax highlighting
- Quick filtering by URL, header, body
- Advanced debugging tools (SSL Proxying, Block List)
- Secure with FaceID/TouchID/Passcode
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Meet a superb Web Debugging Proxy that can act like a middleman, aka Proxyman. ### Features - Directly Capture & Inspect HTTP/HTTPS from your iOS/iPad Devices without using MacBooks. - Decrypt and View HTTP/HTTPS Request/Response in plain text - JSON Syntax Highlighting - Exclusively designed for iPhone and iPad (Landscape and Two Columns) - Share traffic to Proxyman macOS - a native macOS app for better inspection - Pin working domains - Quick filter with URL, Header Body, and Type of Request/Response (e.g., JSON, Form, HTML, CSS, Document, etc) - Better Request/Response Previewer: Multiple columns, JSON Preview, JSON TreeView, etc - Safe Lock: Protect your sensitive data with FaceID / TouchID / Passcode - Advanced Debugging Tools: SSL Proxying, Block List, Map Local, Breakpoint, etc - Rewrite & Scripting ### Proxyman macOS Proxyman for iOS works perfectly with Proxyman for macOS (native macOS app, supports macOS 26 and M4 Chip) ### How it works Proxyman iOS creates a local VPN on your device and then forwards all traffic to a Local Man-in-The-Middle Server. As long as the VPN is active, Proxyman iOS can capture all traffic over Wi-Fi and cellular Data. ### How about my sensitive data? - Proxyman Root Certificate is a self-signed certificate that is generated on your local machine. Thus, all requests and responses are captured and stored on your devices and Proxyman does not have access to your data. - There are no remote servers involved. What’s in your devices, it’s in your devices. ************* - Support: https://proxyman.com/support - Privacy Policy: https://proxyman.com/privacy - Terms of Services: https://proxyman.com/terms-of-use
Tracer
Monitor all network requests your iPhone makes in real-time, locally on your device. Identify third-party services, inspect request details, and understand where your data is going without it ever leaving your phone.
- Real-time network request monitoring
- Inspect headers, bodies, and timing
- Identify third-party services
- Visualize server locations on a globe
- Local data processing for privacy
- No account required
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Ever wonder what your apps are actually doing? Tracer lets you watch every network request your iPhone makes in real time. See where your data goes, who’s receiving it, and exactly what’s being sent - all without your traffic ever leaving your device. WATCH TRAFFIC LIVE * Every request flies across a live 3D globe * Inspect headers, bodies, timing, status codes, and more * See exactly where each server lives SEE WHO’S REALLY BEHIND AN APP * Instantly identify analytics, ads, payments, crash reporting, AI, and other third-party services * See who’s hosting them: AWS, Google Cloud, Cloudflare, and more PRIVATE BY DESIGN * Everything runs locally on your iPhone * Traffic is never uploaded * Your certificates are generated on-device and never leaves it * No account required BUILT FOR * App-curious who want to learn what apps are built with * Developers debugging APIs * QA teams testing apps on real devices * Privacy nerds who want receipts Setup takes just a few minutes. Install Tracer’s certificate, start a capture, and open any app. Your phone. Your traffic. Your business. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracer is free to use. Certain features require a paid subscription. Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Proxyman at 4.8 against Tracer's 4.0. Proxyman also leads on ratings volume (810 vs 1) and chart position (#8 vs #128). Tracer's advantage is update cadence (daily vs weekly) and review sentiment (100% vs 81%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Proxyman sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month and Tracer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Proxyman holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Proxyman has 810 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of Proxyman's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tracer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Proxyman ships an update weekly, Tracer daily. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Proxyman | Tracer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (810 ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 810 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #8 — better | #128 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Proxyman LLC | Ryan Kotzebue |
Customer experience
Proxyman
Tracer
Bugs and requests
Proxyman
Reported bugs
4 issues- Breakpoint functionality not working properly
- Losing session state when relaunching the app
- Incompatibility issues with certain apps and websites
- Crashes when trying to view large response bodies
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for Simplified Chinese
- Implement scripting capabilities like the desktop version
- Improve handling of WebSocket and MQTT traffic
- Allow grouping of related requests
- Add an option to change DNS settings within the app
Tracer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Proxyman
- Premium Monthly Subscription$8.991 Month
- PROJECT PASS Quarterly Subscription$19.993 Months
- Premium Annual Subscription$49.991 Year
- Proxyman Lifetime with Black Friday$69.99
- Lifetime Access$99.99
Tracer
- Pro access$4.997 Days
- Pro access7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Pro access$199.00









