# Charles Proxy 30 Hacker News commenters recommended Charles Proxy and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (4 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Used for inspecting raw HTTP and HTTPS traffic from apps and mobile; one-time purchase. Critics say UI changes confuse and Proxyman is better on macOS. ## Why people recommend it - Inspects raw HTTP and HTTPS traffic (4 comments): "super useful when you have an application, i.e. not a browser, that is making api calls that you want to inspect." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46341910)) "Charles is very much about observing and understanding raw HTTP(S) traffic with minimal friction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334485)) "I've found tools like Charles really useful for understanding what's happening on the wire." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46335447)) - Used for many years (3 comments): "I don't have elaborate needs and have used Charles for many years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334166)) "Fantastic software that I've used for over a decade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334116)) "Charles is user friendly and robust" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46337103)) - Useful for mobile and API work (3 comments): "The combination of Charles + Postman is great for reverse engineering mobile API's." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46335905)) "Charles was indispensable tool for working with HTTP apis" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334126)) "It's invaluable for mobile developers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46336965)) - One-time purchase, no subscription (2 comments): "you buy it and get to keep the version forever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46337167)) "Worth the money. And no subscription" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334155)) ## What people warn about - UI changes confusing or hard to learn (4 comments): "an update changed the UI in ways that were confusing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334367)) "If the devs behind Charles would just tweak their UI a bit, it would be the absolute perfect tool. Functionally it pretty much already is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46335052)) "I could never recognize all its unlabeled icons without hovering for tooltip" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334162)) - Rivals like Proxyman and Fiddler better (4 comments): "It’s great, but if you are a macOS user, Proxyman is better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334447)) "Fiddler is superior to Charles and always has been." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46338921)) "It's a far better macOS app than Charles" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334323)) - Certificate and TLS setup problems (3 comments): "I used to face issues from time to time doing this with Charles having to restart my machine at times and not getting the certificates to work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334427)) "Something all of these miss imo is a way to modify TLS handshakes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46336697)) "The certificate configuration tripped my head during my work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334283)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [mitmproxy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mitmproxy.md): 27 recommend - [Proxyman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/proxyman.md): 20 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.charlesproxy.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Charles Proxy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/charles-proxy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).