Proxyman

Proxyman is a native macOS HTTP debugging proxy for intercepting, inspecting, and rewriting HTTP/HTTPS traffic. Noah Tran launched it in 2019 as a Swift and Apple SwiftNIO app aimed at Mac developers who were tired of Java or Electron proxies. In August 2026 it targets Apple Silicon (M1 through M4) and macOS 26 Tahoe, with ongoing fixes when Apple seeds newer betas. Day-to-day work is SSL proxying, Map Local/Remote, breakpoints, scripting, throttling, and WebSocket capture across Mac, iOS, and Android clients. Many Mac teams treat it as the modern stand-in for Charles or Fiddler when they want a native UI and lower overhead. Proxyman also ships MCP Support as a Pro feature: connect Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Cursor to Proxyman over Model Context Protocol to fetch flows, analyse requests, and create debugging rules in natural language. Pricing stays perpetual-first. Standard is $89 for one seat; Personal is $99 for two seats (includes mobile app seats; marketed as discounted from $178); Team perpetual starts at $99 per seat/year with optional $79 renewals (≥5 seats); Team Subscription is $12 per seat/month billed yearly for cloud collaboration. The free trial is deliberately limited (for example a single debugging rule and missing advanced tools), so serious Map Local, Breakpoint, and Scripting work needs Pro. Practical Mac setup notes that tend to save time: install the Helper and CA on day one, whitelist only the API hosts you care about, and keep Map Local JSON fixtures next to the app repo so frontend engineers can share error shapes in git. When an iOS build pins ATS exceptions for local debugging, document them; leftover exceptions are a common production footgun. For teams already living in Cursor or Claude Code, enable MCP on a Pro seat and treat natural-language rule drafting as a draft step you still review before leaving breakpoints armed on shared staging hosts. Day-to-day Mac setup that tends to save time: install the Helper and CA on day one, whitelist only the API hosts you care about under SSL Proxying List, and keep Map Local JSON fixtures next to the app repo so frontend engineers can share success and error shapes in git. When an iOS build pins ATS exceptions for local debugging, document them in the PR; leftover exceptions are a common production footgun. For physical devices, Mac and phone must share a Wi-Fi network, the device proxy must point at the Mac IP and Proxyman port (default 9090), and the Proxyman CA must be trusted on the device. Simulator and emulator flows are shorter because Proxyman ships one-click helpers for many of those environments. License math that people misread: Standard at $89 covers one desktop seat with all Pro tools including MCP, one year of updates, and the right to keep that Pro build forever after the update year ends. Personal at $99 is the two-seat deal (marketed against $178) and includes two mobile seats for the iOS/Android apps. Team perpetual at $99 per seat/year (minimum five seats) can renew updates at $79 per seat. Team Subscription at $12 per seat/month billed yearly adds cloud collaboration (shared logs, team workspaces, 10GB cloud storage) with sync rules and SSO still listed as coming soon on the pricing page. Student discounts go through support. Bundle offers with TinyShield and TCP Viewer appear on the same pricing surface. Individual renewals commonly land near $49; extra seats are often $89 or the subscription rate. MCP Support is the 2026 headline for AI-heavy shops. On a Pro seat you can attach Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Cursor, pull flows into the agent context, and draft debugging rules in natural language. Treat those drafts as drafts: review breakpoints and Map rules before leaving them armed against shared staging hosts. The command palette covers the keyboard-driven half of the same workflow for people who never touch the agent side. Repeatable debugging habits beat tool lore: name Map rules after the ticket ID, clear breakpoints before you walk away, and prefer host-scoped SSL lists over decrypt-everything modes on shared machines. If HTTPS suddenly goes opaque after a macOS update, re-check that the Proxyman CA is still Always Trust in Keychain Access before assuming the app broke. Backend developers who live in Node, Ruby, Python, or Go terminals usually need zero extra setup beyond the system proxy helper; if a runtime ignores system proxy settings, set explicit HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY to the Proxyman port for that shell session only. Compared with Charles, the usual Mac developer pitch is native Swift UI, faster feel on Apple Silicon, and perpetual personal pricing instead of update-subscription muscle memory. Compared with Fiddler Everywhere, the pitch is lower Electron overhead and tighter macOS integration. Compared with mitmproxy, the pitch is visual Map Local, breakpoint editing, and mobile certificate helpers without living in a terminal. None of those comparisons erase mitmproxy for CI, or Charles for teams with years of saved sessions; they explain why Proxyman shows up in so many 2026 Mac/iOS stacks once someone has paid $89 or $99 and stopped fighting the trial's one-rule ceiling.