SwitchHosts

SwitchHosts

SwitchHosts is a free, open-source application for Windows, Mac and Linux that allows you to easily manage your hosts file. It enables quickly switching between different host configurations with a single click, helping test websites, access sites blocked in your country, and man
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hosts-file dns access-control

SwitchHosts: Free Hosts File Manager for Windows, Mac, and Linux

A free, open-source application for managing hosts files on multiple platforms, enabling quick switching between host configurations for testing, geo-unblocking, and development environments.

What is SwitchHosts?

SwitchHosts is a free, open-source cross-platform application that provides an easy way to manage your systems hosts file. The hosts file maps hostnames to IP addresses and is used to override DNS resolutions on your local machine.

Some key features of SwitchHosts include:

  • Easily create and manage multiple host configurations, allowing you to switch between them with a single click
  • Import and export host configs to quickly share settings between machines
  • Edit hosts directly within the app using syntax highlighting and autocomplete
  • Group configs into contextual sets like 'Work' or 'Home' for organized access
  • Setup schedules to automatically activate configs at certain times
  • App available for Windows, MacOS and Linux with data synced across all platforms

With its intuitive interface and extensive feature set, SwitchHosts makes it simple to manage host mappings for testing web development, accessing blocked sites, optimizing network requests, and improving productivity. It eliminates the need to manually edit hosts files and switch configs.

SwitchHosts Features

Features

  1. Manages host file entries
  2. Supports multiple host profiles
  3. Quick switching between host profiles
  4. Import/export host profiles
  5. Password protection
  6. Cross-platform - Windows, Mac, Linux

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Simple and easy to use

Good for testing websites

Bypasses country-based blocks

Helps manage dev/staging environments

Cons

Need to manually update entries

Limited to managing host file only

No browser integration

No SSH tunneling features


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