DevHeaderModHeader alternatives compared
Which tool fits depends on whether you need a quick browser-side change, a shared team setup, or network-level control. This page is written by DevHeader's maintainers, so weigh it accordingly, and the limitations below apply to DevHeader too.
Short answer
- Quick header, redirect, or mock in your own browser: DevHeader.
- Delays, request-body edits, or a larger rule feature set: Requestly.
- Mocks shared across a team's tests and CI: MSW.
- Any client, not just Chrome, or full traffic inspection: an intercepting proxy.
Comparison
| Need | DevHeader | ModHeader | Requestly | Proxy (mitmproxy, Charles) | MSW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modify request and response headers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | In your own handlers |
| Redirect or rewrite URLs | Yes, substring or regex | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mock API responses in the browser | Yes, fetch/XHR and GraphQL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, in code |
| Delay or throttle responses | No | Check its docs | Yes | Yes | Yes, in code |
| No code or project changes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Setup needed | No, it lives in your repo |
| Works outside Chrome and Edge | No | No | Partly | Yes | Yes |
Cells for tools other than DevHeader are summaries and can change between releases. Check each vendor's documentation before deciding.
Where DevHeader is the wrong choice
- No latency simulation, request-body editing, or cancel-request rules.
- No dynamic values or templating in mock bodies, and no tab or window scoping.
- Mocks need Chrome 138+ with Allow User Scripts turned on, so managed browsers that block that toggle can't use them.
- It is a personal browser tool, not a team-shared or CI-run mock layer.
Where DevHeader is the right choice
- A small extension with no
<all_urls>install-time permission, no network calls, and local-only storage. See About & Security. - Capturing a real request in DevTools and turning it into a mock in a click. See the mocking guide.
Why people are leaving ModHeader
ModHeader was removed from the Microsoft Edge store in July 2026 after researchers reported dormant, encrypted domain-harvesting code in a recent build, and its broad host permissions had long been flagged as a risk for a tool that does not need them. DevHeader was built in response.