Headerbench

A ModHeader alternative that asks for less

Headerbench sets request and response headers the way ModHeader did, imports your ModHeader profiles, and asks for access only to the sites your profiles cover.

What happened to ModHeader

  • July 3, 2026: Microsoft removed ModHeader from Edge Add-ons.
  • July 10, 2026: Google removed ModHeader from the Chrome Web Store. The Hacker News reported a hidden browsing-history collector in the extension and calls to a third-party server.
  • Since then: dozens of new listings use the ModHeader name. Check who publishes an extension, and what it asks for, before you give it access to every site.

How Headerbench compares

Header extensions compared, from each tool’s Chrome Web Store listing and manifest, checked 2026-10-11.
Headerbench Requestly Header Editor Lite
Free header rules No limit No limit Free
Response headers
Site access at install None; asked per profile All sites All sites, plus local files
Permissions requested declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess, storage, activeTab, alarms 11, including webRequest, proxy, tabs, scripting and browsingData tabs, storage, unlimitedStorage, declarativeNetRequest, debugger
Analytics None Not stated in its listing None (“no data collection”)
Account required No Opens its web app with a sign-in prompt No

Requestly’s free header rules: “Header Modifications are now free and unlimited on Requestly” (Requestly blog, June 2025). Header Editor Lite’s “no data collection” is from its store description. Listings change; check them before you decide.

What you get

  • Profiles with request and response headers, filters, redirects and blocks, all free.
  • Several profiles on at once, with a clear priority order, and a this-tab-only mode.
  • Rules run through Chrome’s declarativeNetRequest, so they apply to fetch, XHR and POST.
  • No account, no analytics, no remote code, and unminified source.
The Headerbench import dialog after importing a ModHeader file, with a report of profiles, headers and redirects imported.
The import report after a ModHeader file

Move your profiles in two minutes

  1. In ModHeader, open the profile menu, choose Export, select your profiles and click Download JSON. If your browser already removed ModHeader, look for an older export or ask a teammate for theirs: Chrome deletes an extension’s data when it removes it.
  2. Optional: convert the file on this site to see what will come across before you install anything.
  3. Install Headerbench. The welcome page opens with Import from ModHeader.
  4. Choose the file. The report shows every profile, header, filter and redirect it found, and anything switched off, such as JavaScript-based dynamic values.
  5. Open the page you test on, turn on a profile in the popup and accept Chrome’s prompt for the sites it changes and that page.
  6. Reload your page and open the popup: Applied on this tab confirms the headers went out.

Install Headerbench

Free, no account, no tracking. Pro is optional.

The Chrome Web Store and Edge Add-ons listings are on their way. Install links appear here as soon as they are live.