Burp Suite vs Caido: the new proxy that's actually fast.

Burp Suite has been the default web-proxy for over a decade. Caido is the newest serious challenger to that default: a from-scratch rebuild in Rust that trades Burp's twenty years of extension ecosystem for a lighter, faster core. The question isn't whether Caido is impressive. It is. The question is what it still can't do.

The short answer

• Speed and memory: Caido wins clearly. The Rust backend stays light through long sessions where Burp's Java heap grows.
• Manual proxy workflow: close to a tie. Intercept, replay, and tamper are all there in Caido, with a cleaner interface.
• Automated scanning and extensions: Burp still wins by a wide margin – this is the real gap.
• Price: Caido wins decisively, whether you compare free tiers or paid ones.

Architecture: Rust versus Java

Caido is built from the ground up in Rust and exposes a web-based interface that runs in the browser – either locally or hosted on a server for remote access. Burp Suite is a Java desktop application, tied to whatever machine you installed it on. In practice this shows up most on long engagements: Caido's memory footprint stays low across a multi-hour session, while Burp's – especially with the automated scanner running – tends to climb.

The browser-based delivery also means Caido runs the same way on Linux, macOS, and Windows without the usual Java-runtime quirks, and it's genuinely easier to run headless on a remote box and connect to it from a laptop.

Interface and workflow

The core loop – intercept a request, inspect it, replay it with modifications, watch the response – is the same muscle memory in both tools. Caido covers it with a faster, cleaner interface than Burp's, and testers who've used both consistently describe it as lighter and more intuitive during long sessions, particularly in the request/response viewer and replay panel.

Where Caido adds something genuinely new is Workflows: a node-based automation editor for chaining processing steps – transform a request, match a pattern, react to a response – without writing a Burp-style Java extension. It's a lower floor for building custom automation than Burp's extension API, even if it doesn't yet reach the same ceiling.

Project management: the free-tier surprise

This is a smaller feature with an outsized practical effect. Caido's free tier includes multi-project support – separate history, scope, and findings per target, at no cost. Burp Suite Community Edition limits you to a single project. For anyone juggling more than one engagement at a time on the free tier, that alone is a reason to open Caido first.

Where Burp still wins

Two gaps keep Burp Suite Professional the default for full-time consultancies:

• Automated scanning. Burp's scanner runs in three modes – Crawl and Audit, Crawl only, and API-only (scanning against a supplied API definition) – and the crawler-plus-audit combination remains more mature than anything Caido ships today.
• Extensions. Burp's BApp Store carries roughly 250 extensions built over more than a decade. Caido's Workflows system is a genuinely useful answer to some of that, but it doesn't yet match the BApp Store's depth or its established ecosystem of purpose-built tools (Autorize, JWT Editor, Param Miner, and similar).

If your work leans heavily on either – deep automated crawls across large attack surfaces, or a specific Burp-only extension your workflow depends on – that gap is still the deciding factor.

Pricing (2026)

Even at its paid tier, Caido costs less than half of a single Burp Suite Professional seat per year. That gap is real and worth factoring in, but it isn't the whole decision – see the scanning and extension gap above before treating price alone as the deciding factor.

The recommendation

If you're a bug bounty hunter or independent pentester doing mostly manual testing, want a fast, modern tool that doesn't fight your laptop's fan, and don't lean on Burp-only extensions – Caido is the better default in 2026, and the price difference makes the choice easier.

If you're at a consultancy running deep automated scans across large scopes, or your workflow depends on a specific BApp Store extension, Burp Suite Professional remains the safer choice: the extension and scanner gap is real, not marketing.

If you're new to web testing, either is a reasonable place to start; Caido's lower cost and lighter learning curve make it an easier first tool, and the core workflow – intercept, replay, tamper – transfers cleanly if you move to Burp later.

Frequently asked questions