DevUtils vs CyberChef
DevUtils and CyberChef are both developer utility apps. They share a lot of common functionalities, but they also have a lot of differences and serve different sets of users/customers.
What is DevUtils?
DevUtils is a macOS app to help developers with small daily tasks like format JSON, decode Base64, convert timestamps, debug JWT...
It focuses on helping the customer process the data quickly and conveniently with hotkeys and its clipboard smart detect feature.
It also provides sophisticated UI tools to help you inspect data, visualize, and debug. Example: HTML Preview, JWT Debugger, Text Diff Checker, RegExp Tester, etc.
What is CyberChef
CyberChef is a simple, intuitive web app for carrying out all manner of "cyber" operations within a web browser. These operations include XOR, Base64, encryption like AES, DES, creating binary and hex dumps, compression and decompression of data, calculating hashes and checksums,...
The tool is designed to enable both technical and non-technical analysts to manipulate data in complex ways without having to deal with complex tools or algorithms.
What can DevUtils do but CyberChef cannot? (and vice versa)
The following table will summarize a few examples that demonstrate how DevUtils and CyberChef are different.
| Features | DevUtils | CyberChef |
|---|---|---|
| HotKey | Press a hotkey and instantly see the result (with the smart detect feature). For example:
| No hotkey |
| Toolset for encryption, hashing, compression | Only provide popular encryption/hashing tools. | Sophisticated encryption tools, hashing tools, compress/decompression tools. Example: AES, DES, Blowfish, Bcrypt, CTPH, Bifid Cipher, Atbash Cipher, ...many more. |
| Tools UI/UX | Simple but sophisticated UI/UX designed for every tool. Highly customizable options. Example: Unix Time Converter shows all relevant outputs on one page, including: local time, ISO 8601 format, relative time, day of year, week of year, leap year. Text Diff Checker shows a side-by-side text comparison with highlighting. Users can choose multiple output formats and can navigate between the diff matches. Number Base Converter shows an interactive conversion table with multiple textboxes. Users can update any of the textboxes, and the rest will get updated automatically. | Input and output representation is very limited. |
| Input/Output Piping | Not possible | Users can use the output of an operation as the input of another operation, creating a chain of operations (a "receipt"). This allows users to create custom receipts that they can reuse to manipulate and process their data. |
| Preview, Inspect, Debug | Preview HTML tool: render an HTML string to a WebView to review and debug your JS/CSS/HTML. String Inspector tool: Inspect a string character by character by simply highlighting it. RegExp Tester tool: show and highlight results with interactive control to navigate between them. JWT Debugger tool: allow users to verify, sign, and decode a JWT token interactively in one single UI. | None of the items on the left is possible. |
| OS support | Only macOS | Everywhere with a Web browser |
| Look & feel |
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| Pricing & Support | Paid app. Email support by developer. | Free open source app Community support |
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of differences between the two apps. Which one is better? Both have their own pros and cons.
If you are looking for a data manipulation and processing tool with a sophisticated toolset focused on "cyber" operations, pick CyberChef.
If you are looking for a convenient, easy-to-use application with popular tools focused on web development and general data processing, pick DevUtils. It also has a very pleasant UI/UX as a native macOS app!