Microsoft Dev Proxy review
A free open-source proxy for API simulation, traffic control, and CI/CD workflows.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Microsoft Dev Proxy is a free, open-source command-line forward proxy for developers working with applications that call APIs. It runs locally on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with browser-specific proxy use for web testing. Teams can intercept and modify HTTP and HTTPS requests and responses, record traffic for analysis, and simulate API behavior without changing application code. That makes it a practical fit for local development, automated tests, API simulation, and CI/CD workflows.
Its strongest area is controlled API behavior. Dev Proxy can return predefined mock responses and simulate errors, throttling, and latency, helping teams exercise failure paths and slow-network conditions before deployment. The plugin model extends that control: configurable and custom plugins can inspect, analyze, modify, or replace requests and responses. A web API also supports programmatic control, which suits repeatable automation and pipeline-driven workflows rather than only interactive debugging.
The trade-off is focus. Dev Proxy covers interception, response mocking, fault simulation, recording, plugins, and CI/CD, but it does not provide breakpoint rules, traffic replay, WebSocket inspection, or proxy chaining. Its command-line design and automation support favor developers and teams that need programmable API conditions across environments. Choose it for free, open-source simulation and pipeline integration; choose another web debugging proxy when interactive breakpoints, replay, WebSocket analysis, or multi-proxy routing are central requirements.
Microsoft Dev Proxy pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Simulates API errors, throttling, latency, and predefined responses
- Runs across Windows, macOS, Linux, browsers, automated tests, and CI/CD
- Offers plugins, custom plugins, and a web API for programmatic control
- Where it doesn't
- No breakpoint rules for proxy-specific traffic control
- No traffic replay or WebSocket inspection
- No proxy chaining support
Microsoft Dev Proxy fact sheet, pricing and score →
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