Comparison

HE.NET Network Tools vs Charles Proxy

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

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
Currently charting
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

Screenshots

HE.NET Network Tools4 screens
Charles Proxy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HE.NET Network Tools at Free against Charles Proxy's $8.99. HE.NET Network Tools also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 52%) and device support (4 vs 2). Charles Proxy's advantage is chart position (#158 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

HE.NET Network Tools 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for HE.NET Network Tools against 4.0 for Charles Proxy. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 70 and 187 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of HE.NET Network Tools's written reviews are positive against 52% of Charles Proxy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
HE.NET Network Tools versus Charles Proxy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHE.NET Network ToolsCharles Proxy
PriceFree — better$8.99
Rating4.0 (70 ratings)4.0 (187 ratings)
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews — better51.9% of reviews
Number of ratings70187 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#158 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHurricane Electric, LLCXK72 Limited

Customer experience

HE.NET Network Tools

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

Charles Proxy

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

User reviews

HE.NET Network Tools

From 70 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎯 Comprehensive network diagnostic tools in one app
  • 💰 Completely free with no ads or paywalls
  • 🔒 Privacy-friendly and no data collection
  • ⚡ Lightweight and efficient performance
  • 🛠️ Advanced features like SSL cert chain analysis

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes on Interface Information tool
  • 🐛 Dark mode text readability issues
  • 🐛 iperf3 tool unreliable and buggy
  • 🐛 DNS resolver doesn't show NXDOMAIN responses
  • 🐛 App crashes when scrolling tool menu

Charles Proxy

From 187 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great tool for developers
  • 👍 Useful for debugging
  • 🔒 SSL proxying works
  • 💡 Convenient to use on mobile

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Stability issues, crashes
  • 🐛 SSL certificate not trusted
  • 🐛 Doesn't handle gzip compression
  • 🐛 Slow performance compared to desktop

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

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

In-app purchases

None

HE.NET Network Tools

No in-app purchases

None

Charles Proxy

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 Charles Proxy free?
Charles Proxy costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HE.NET Network Tools or Charles Proxy?
HE.NET Network Tools and Charles Proxy are both rated 4.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 70 and 187 ratings respectively.
Do HE.NET Network Tools or Charles Proxy have ads?
Neither HE.NET Network Tools nor Charles Proxy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HE.NET Network Tools or Charles Proxy?
HE.NET Network Tools ships an update every 2 months, and Charles Proxy every 2 months. Most recently, HE.NET Network Tools was updated on October 9, 2026 and Charles Proxy on October 15, 2026.

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