Charles vs cURL

Charles

Description: Charles is an HTTP proxy / HTTP monitor / Reverse Proxy that enables a developer to view all of the HTTP and SSL / HTTPS traffic between their machine and the Internet. This includes requests, responses and the HTTP headers (which contain the cookies and caching information).

Type: software

cURL

Description: cURL is a command line tool that allows you to make network requests like GET and POST to transfer data or interact with web APIs and servers. It supports common internet protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more. cURL is useful for testing APIs, web scraping, and automating interactions with web services.

Type: software

Pricing: Free

Charles Features

• HTTP proxy
• HTTP monitor
• Reverse proxy
• View HTTP/HTTPS traffic
• View requests
• View responses
• View HTTP headers
• View cookies
• View caching information

cURL Features

• Command line tool for transferring data with URLs
• Supports many common protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, LDAP
• Can send and receive data including files, HTTP POST data, HTTPS requests, etc
• Rich set of options for authentication, cookies, headers, proxies, SSL certificates, and more
• Can output response data to stdout or save to file
• Scriptable and automatable
• Cross-platform - works on Linux, Windows, macOS, etc

Charles

• Not listed

cURL

• Free