Mediator vs Proxyman

Mediator is a free, open-source desktop proxy for debugging gRPC traffic on Linux, macOS and Windows. It can redirect requests to beta or test servers without changes to client code. When an API schema is available, it parses gRPC requests and responses and presents binary messages as a JSON tree. Schemas can come from server reflection, proto source roots compiled with protoc, or FileDescriptorSet files. Matching server rules also allow gRPC and HTTPS decoding after the client installs the root certificate generated by that Mediator installation. Certificates are available in DER and PEM formats, and another installation requires its own certificate. The proxy listens on port 8888 by default. Downloads include Windows MSI, macOS DMG, Apple Silicon macOS DMG and Linux deb packages. Setup examples cover Java, Objective-C/iOS and Go clients. The repository identifies Apache-2.0 as its license.

Proxyman is an HTTP debugging proxy for capturing, decrypting, and mocking HTTP(S) requests and responses. Its SSL setup allows inspection of traffic in plain text. Tools include breakpoints, Map Local, Map Remote, scripting, filtering, and request/response diffs; it also supports traffic replay, response mocking, proxy chaining, WebSocket inspection, and GraphQL debugging. Desktop versions run on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with standalone iOS and Android apps for capturing and inspecting HTTPS traffic on phones and tablets. Its MCP server connects debugging sessions to Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, Codex CLI, and Cursor. The free evaluation trial has limited features and excludes WebSocket preview, mobile apps, and Network Extension. Standard costs $89, paid once, a one-time purchase for one seat, one active desktop device, and one year of updates. Team and company licenses require at least five seats. Team subscriptions include shared logs, workspaces, role-based access, management features, and 10GB of cloud storage per team.