Compare
How Hugin compares to Burp Suite, Caido, and ZAP
Burp Suite, Caido, and OWASP ZAP are all real tools with real strengths. This is the honest, row-by-row comparison for people deciding what to run — including where each competitor wins.
| Feature | Hugin ↗ | Burp Suite | Caido | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Community free forever · Pro €10/mo flat | $499/year (Professional) | Free Basic · paid individual/team tiers | Free (Apache-2.0) |
| Type | Offensive platform: proxy + scanner + engines | Offensive platform (proxy + scanner) | Offensive platform (proxy + plugins) | Scanner-first (DAST) |
| Open source | No — single proprietary binary | No | No (SDK + plugin API) | Yes (Apache-2.0) |
| Runtime | Native Rust binary — no JVM | Java / JVM | Rust + JavaScript plugins | Java / JVM |
| Account required | No — Community needs no account | Yes for Pro / cloud AI credits | Yes for cloud services | No |
| Active scanner | Included: 64+ active, 48 passive checks | Professional tier only | Via paid plugins | Included (open source) |
| Intruder / fuzzer | Full speed in every tier | Throttled in Community | Included | Fuzzer included |
| Out-of-band (blind bugs) | Own OOB server, 8 protocols, self-hosted | Collaborator (cloud credits) | Via plugins / external | OAST add-on (external) |
| Race conditions | Dedicated single-packet engine | Bolt-on in Repeater | Partial | Not first-class |
| Request smuggling | CL.TE, TE.CL, TE.TE, H2.TE + gRPC | Via extensions | Via plugins | Via add-ons |
| AI agent | Built in — reads every flow, writes exploits | Cloud AI, paid credits | Bring-your-own-model plugin | None native |
| MCP / agent-drivable | Yes — 174+ MCP tools | Add-on only | SDK + GraphQL, no MCP | No |
| Telemetry | None — no account, no telemetry | Cloud AI + account | Collects interaction data | None (self-hosted) |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux, Windows (CLI) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Cross-platform (Java) |
Competitor details reflect their public pricing and documentation as of October 2026 — verify at the source before buying. Hugin facts are from hugin.nu.
Head-to-head
Offensive platforms first, then the debugging proxies people also compare against.
Hugin vs Burp Suite
Burp Suite Professional costs $499 a year, throttles Intruder in Community, runs on the JVM, and gates its scanner and Collaborator behind paid tiers and cloud credits.
read the comparisonHugin vs Caido
Caido is a modern Rust proxy, but its free Basic tier caps you at 2 projects, 7 workflows and 3 plugins, its cloud services need an account, and its own privacy notice says it collects interaction data between your instance and its cloud.
read the comparisonHugin vs OWASP ZAP
ZAP is a fine free, open-source scanner — and it is a Java application built for scanning rather than manual interception, with no first-class out-of-band server or AI agent.
read the comparisonHugin vs mitmproxy
mitmproxy is a great free, scriptable HTTPS proxy for developers — a command-line and Python tool built for intercepting and manipulating traffic.
read the comparisonHugin vs Charles Proxy
Charles is a well-liked HTTP debugging proxy, but it is a $50-per-license commercial tool with no vulnerability scanner, no interception fuzzer, and no out-of-band server — it is built for debugging, not for finding bugs.
read the comparisonHugin vs Proxyman
Proxyman is a polished native debugging proxy starting at USD $89 per seat, focused on macOS/iOS development workflows.
read the comparisonHugin vs Fiddler
Fiddler is a long-standing web debugging proxy, historically Windows-first, now with paid Telerik support tiers.
read the comparisonFrequently asked
Is there a free Burp Suite alternative?
Yes. Hugin is free to download with no account. Its Community tier includes the intercepting proxy and a vulnerability scanner with 64+ active and 48 passive checks, where Burp Suite Community has no active scanner and throttles Intruder.
What is the best free alternative to Burp Suite in 2026?
Hugin and OWASP ZAP are the two credible free options. ZAP is open-source and scanner-first; Hugin is a native Rust intercepting proxy with a built-in out-of-band server, a race engine, and a 174-tool AI layer. Pick ZAP for open-source CI scanning, Hugin for hands-on interception.
Does Hugin work without an account?
Yes. Hugin Community requires no account, no email, and no card. You download one binary and run it locally. Pro is optional at a flat €10 per month.
How does Hugin handle blind bugs without a cloud collaborator?
Hugin runs its own out-of-band server on your machine across eight protocols: DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, LDAP, FTP, SMB, and raw TCP. Callbacks land on infrastructure you control, not a vendor cloud.