Hammer vs HTTPBuddy

Hammer is a professional HTTP and HTTPS debugging toolkit for developers, QA engineers, mobile teams, and technical users who need a clear way to inspect, analyze, and troubleshoot network traffic on iPhone and iPad. Whether you are testing an API, debugging a mobile app, checking request headers, reviewing response data, or exporting sessions for deeper analysis, Hammer helps you understand what is happening between your app, website, and backend services. Designed for local-first network inspection, Hammer keeps captured data on your device by default. Requests, responses, headers, cookies, and session history remain local unless you choose to export or share them. How Hammer Works: Hammer uses Apple's public Network Extension framework and a Packet Tunnel Provider to enable on-device traffic capture. When you tap Start and approve the iOS system configuration prompt, Hammer creates a local Packet Tunnel. Traffic included in the active capture session is routed through Hammer's local proxy process on the same device, where requests and responses can be inspected and displayed. The Packet Tunnel does not connect your traffic to a remote VPN server. Hammer does not provide anonymous browsing, change your virtual location, or hide your public IP address. iOS displays VPN-related permission text and may show a VPN status indicator because Apple manages Packet Tunnel Provider configurations through its VPN configuration infrastructure. Key Features: Live Traffic Capture Capture HTTP and HTTPS requests in real time. Review method, host, path, status code, protocol, timing, size, and request details in a clean debugging interface. Detailed Request Inspector Inspect URL parameters, request and response headers, message bodies, status codes, timing metrics, and content types. HTTPS Debugging Use optional certificate-based HTTPS inspection in development, testing, or other authorized environments. Certificate installation and trust are controlled by the user through iOS Settings. Request History Keep capture sessions organized locally so you can revisit traffic, compare results, and investigate issues after testing. Rules and Filters Manage rules for bypassing hosts, blocking traffic, rewriting requests, mapping responses, and controlling traffic during debugging. HAR Export Export captured sessions as HAR files for desktop analysis, bug reports, team collaboration, or long-term debugging records. Local Proxy Workflow Use Hammer's on-device Packet Tunnel and local proxy workflow to inspect traffic from apps, browsers, and services you are authorized to analyze. Clean Debugging Interface Work with readable request lists, structured detail views, protocol statistics, favorites, and practical tools for repeated debugging. Local-First Privacy Captured network content is processed and stored locally by default. Hammer does not require an account, and the Packet Tunnel does not upload captured traffic to a remote VPN server. Data leaves your device only when you explicitly export, share, or submit it through a user-initiated action. Hammer is useful for: • Debugging mobile app API requests • Inspecting HTTP and HTTPS traffic • Reviewing headers, cookies, and response bodies • Testing backend services and REST APIs • Checking status codes, redirects, and timing • Exporting HAR files for issue reports • Managing traffic rules during development • Investigating network behavior during QA testing Hammer is intended for legitimate development, testing, and debugging workflows. Use it only with apps, websites, services, and network traffic that you own or have permission to inspect.

HTTPBuddy is a powerful API client and debugging tool that lets you send HTTP/HTTPS requests, establish WebSocket connections, and send/receive data frames anytime, anywhere. With HTTPBuddy, you can: • Send requests and view responses from anywhere. • Debug API issues even when away from your computer. • Easily read JSON, HTML, XML, and plain text responses. • Import APIs from Postman for debugging on the go. • Periodically check observed APIs for availability and correctness. Features: • User-friendly request editor for easily editing HTTP headers and request bodies. • Supports all major HTTP methods, including GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, and OPTIONS. • Automatically highlights JSON, HTML, and XML content with searchable strings. • Integrates with Postman/Apifox for importing APIs to debug. • View API documentation. • View and replay historical requests. • Supports expression injection and scripting to inject dynamic parameters before sending requests, meeting complex authorization needs.