CatchHook vs. ngrok
ngrok tunnels traffic. CatchHook catches, inspects, replays, and forwards webhooks — with tunneling built in.
ngrok is the gold standard for localhost tunneling — exposing local servers to the internet. It also includes a traffic inspector with replay capabilities. CatchHook takes a different approach: persistent webhook endpoints with full inspection, search, Endpoint Actions, AI debugging, and team collaboration. Tunneling is built into the CatchHook CLI, but it's one piece of a complete webhook debugging workflow rather than the whole product.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | CatchHook | ngrok | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time inspection | ngrok Traffic Inspector | ||
| Request search & filtering | ngrok filters by path, method, status | ||
| One-click replay with editing | Both support replay with request modification — CatchHook adds identity regeneration, signature re-signing, and provider-aware warnings | ||
| Endpoint Actions (forward, tag, notify, ignore) | ngrok Traffic Policy provides conditional in-flight traffic actions. CatchHook adds persisted post-capture Forward, Tag, Notify, and Ignore workflows with per-event execution traces and rerun support. | ||
| Localhost tunneling (CLI) | ngrok's core feature | ||
| AI payload summaries | |||
| AI handler code generation | |||
| Multi-channel alerts | |||
| Team access controls | ngrok team features on Pay-as-you-go ($20/mo) | ||
| Workspace isolation | ngrok has RBAC but no workspace/project partitioning | ||
| Persistent webhook endpoints | ngrok provides assigned development domains and paid custom domains. CatchHook endpoints persist independently of local agent availability and continue capturing while a local service is offline. | ||
| Request history & retention | ngrok Traffic Inspector retains traffic for 24 hours on Free and 72 hours on Hobbyist/Pay-as-you-go; paid retention add-ons can extend this further | ||
| Webhook signature verification | ngrok verifies 50+ providers via Traffic Policy | ||
| Request diff & compare | Side-by-side semantic diff of any two requests on the same endpoint | ||
| Health dashboard & diagnostics | Per-endpoint health status, recommended actions, inline delivery timeline | ||
| Request triage (tag, ignore, resolve) | Tag, ignore, or resolve requests to exclude noise from health metrics. ngrok has no post-capture triage workflow. | ||
| Custom domains | CatchHook includes one custom domain per workspace (multiple workspaces per account). ngrok charges $0.01/hr per custom domain after 744 included hours, plus $200/mo for custom TLS certificates. | ||
| API gateway / ingress | ngrok is a full API gateway and Kubernetes ingress | ||
| Inbound email catching | Catch emails as events with SPF/DKIM/DMARC verification, provider detection, and normalized JSON forwarding | ||
| Per-request response capture | CatchHook records the exact status code, headers, and body returned to the webhook sender on every request | ||
| MCP server for AI editors | Debug webhooks from Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or Codex CLI with 20 tools over Streamable HTTP |
Where CatchHook Stands Out
Longer Searchable History
ngrok Traffic Inspector includes 24-72 hours of retention by default. CatchHook stores events for 60-180 days with full search, so older webhook failures remain available without a retention add-on.
Persistent Capture with Forward Retries
CatchHook stores the webhook before delivery, so it remains available when your local service is offline. Paid Action Forward steps add configurable timeouts, bounded retries, and execution traces.
AI-Powered Debugging
Get instant plain-English summaries of complex payloads and generate handler code. ngrok shows you raw traffic — CatchHook helps you understand it.
Simpler, Predictable Pricing
ngrok's pay-as-you-go model means costs scale with traffic. CatchHook's flat $10/mo Pro plan includes everything you need for webhook debugging without surprise bills.
Pricing at a Glance
CatchHook
- Pro — $10/mo
- Team — $24/mo
- Business — $49/mo
- 14-day free trial, no credit card
ngrok
- Free — $0 (20k requests/mo)
- Hobbyist — $8/mo annually ($10 monthly)
- Pay-as-you-go — $20/mo + usage
- Free tier (very limited)
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