Comparison

HE.NET Network Tools vs Best Trace

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

Head to head
About

HE.NET Network Tools

A comprehensive suite of network diagnostic tools for professionals. It offers features like ARP/NDP lookup, DNS queries, IP calculations, bandwidth testing, and port scanning. Securely manage two-factor authentication codes and view network routing tables.

Highlights
  • ARP/NDP lookup
  • DNS lookup
  • IP Calculator
  • iperf bandwidth test
  • Port Scan
  • SSL/TLS Information
  • Two-factor authentication code storage
Features
Read full description

This suite of networks tools implements most of the network diagnostics that you need as a Network Engineer or System Administrator. Please help us improve it by giving us feedback. + ARP / NDP: Lookup local devices found on your network using either ARP (IPv4) or NDP (IPv6). + Bonjour Browser: See what DNS-SD/Bonjour services are available on your network + DNS lookup: Search for a servers DNS zone records such as SOA, NS, A, AAAA, MX, PTR. + Interface Information: Get information regarding your device's current network state. + IP Calculator: Calculate the Netmask, Wildcard, Network, Host range, and Broadcast for a given subnet. + iperf: Check bandwidth against remote iperf services. + One Time Password: Securely store and view your TOTP and HOTP (two-factor authentication) codes. TOTP codes are available on the Apple Watch. + Ping: Send ICMP packets to a single IPv4/IPv6 address. + Ping Sweep: Send ICMP packets to an entire subnet range. + Traceroute: Find the route packets take to reach your destination. + Progressive Traceroute: Get detailed statistics for a given route. + Port Scan: Scan a list of TCP ports on any server. + Routing Table: See your local device's routing table. + SSL/TLS Information: Check available ciphers, protocols and what's being used when connecting to a remove service. + Whois: Get information regarding network resources. + NO ADS! Note: Recent iOS releases secure certain low-level network information, and as such will not be available in-app, such as MAC addresses for other network devices.

About

Best Trace

Visualize detailed network path information to help diagnose and resolve network issues. It provides insights into your current device's network connection and offers a convenient widget for at-a-glance monitoring.

Highlights
  • Visual network path details
  • Network problem resolution
  • Current device connection info
  • Home screen widget
  • IP geolocation database
Read full description

****** The Industry-leading Visual Traceroute Tool ****** Best Trace is a visualization tool that can help network operators, internet companies's development and operations teams and technology enthusiasts to view network path's detail information, it also can help them resolve the needs that they want to fix the problems of the network. It is based on our(IPIP.net) own needs and customers, combined with our IP geolocation database, then we created it. We support viewing your current iOS device's network connection information and has a widget to help you see it at any time. IPIP.net focus on location-related data reduction and release, is committed to becoming the location datas more accuracy and precision. Our main products--IPIP.net function is for city-level geographic data marked based on BGP/ASN datas, that accuracy is much higher than other products. Our customers existed in all types of internet companies, most in the advertising, security, E-commerce, entertainment industry, as well as CDN, DNS, VPN, and other network productivity tools. Free users have a limit number of queries, please contact us for commercial license.

Screenshots

HE.NET Network Tools4 screens
Best Trace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: HE.NET Network Tools at 78% against Best Trace's 15%. HE.NET Network Tools also leads on rating (4.0 vs 1.6) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HE.NET Network Tools holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 70 and 21 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of HE.NET Network Tools's written reviews are positive against 15% of Best Trace's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HE.NET Network Tools ships an update every 2 months, Best Trace monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 2, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
HE.NET Network Tools versus Best Trace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHE.NET Network ToolsBest Trace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (70 ratings) — better1.6 (21 ratings)
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews — better15.4% of reviews
Number of ratings70 — better21
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHurricane Electric, LLCBeijing Tiantexin Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

HE.NET Network Tools

All ratings70 ratings
Positive72.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral10.1%
Negative12.1%

Best Trace

All ratings21 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive15.4%
Neutral11.5%
Negative73.1%

Bugs and requests

HE.NET Network Tools

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Interface Information crashes app immediately
  • iperf3 fails with 'operation not permitted' error
  • iperf2 crashes on iOS 8+
  • DNS lookups not responding after updates
  • iperf3 only runs for 1 second despite longer duration settings
Show 7 more
  • iperf3 fails to start intermittently
  • App crashes when selecting tools from menu
  • Crashes on iOS 11 and later versions
  • Neighbor Discovery crashes on iPhone 6
  • Dark mode text hard to read on iPhone
  • App crashes on iPad for multiple functions
  • Ping and basic tools crash on iOS 11+

Requested features

12 requests
  • Vision Pro compatibility and controls
  • SRV record lookup in DNS tool
  • IPv6 subnet calculator
  • WOL (Wake-on-LAN) magic packet support
  • MTR (My Traceroute) tool
Show 7 more
  • Telnet command for port testing
  • Stop/pause button for running tests
  • Multiple iperf test execution
  • Configurable iperf parameters and bandwidth limits
  • LAN device scanning capability
  • Dark mode text color options
  • Apple Watch app with full functionality

Best Trace

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HE.NET Network Tools

No in-app purchases

None

Best Trace

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HE.NET Network Tools free?
HE.NET Network Tools is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Best Trace free?
Best Trace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HE.NET Network Tools or Best Trace?
HE.NET Network Tools is rated higher. HE.NET Network Tools averages 4.0 out of 5 from 70 ratings, while Best Trace averages 1.6 from 21 ratings.
Do HE.NET Network Tools or Best Trace have ads?
Neither HE.NET Network Tools nor Best Trace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HE.NET Network Tools or Best Trace?
HE.NET Network Tools ships an update every 2 months, and Best Trace monthly. Most recently, HE.NET Network Tools was updated on September 2, 2026 and Best Trace on September 21, 2026.

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