This article does not provide services to residents of China. If it detects that you are a resident of China, access to this webpage will be prohibited; however, you can normally access other articles on this site.
In today's highly interconnected digital age, unobstructed access to global internet information is crucial for learning, work, and personal growth. However, for various reasons, internet access is restricted in some regions. This article will focus on several free and open-source proxy client software suitable for Apple iPhone and analyze their features in detail, hoping to provide a practical guide for iPhone users seeking internet freedom.
Related recommendations: Check the public IP of this device when accessing different websites to detect proxy diversion configurations. After configuring the client, you can open it for testing.
The following client software:
- Completely free
- Apple users need to have a non-mainland China Apple account to download
Sing-Box # #
Sing-Box is a rising star that has garnered attention in recent years. It is a powerful and highly customizable universal proxy platform. Although it is a core component, developers have created a graphical client for iOS based on this core, making it convenient for iPhone users to use.
It is the first free, open-source proxy client on iOS that supports multiple emerging proxy protocols. (Note that this sentence has many qualifiers). Many clients are also based on its core.
Core features:
- Multi-protocol support: Sing-Box is known for its powerful protocol support capabilities, compatible with various mainstream and emerging proxy protocols, including AnyTLS, Hysteria2, TUIC, Naive, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, SOCKS5. This means users can flexibly choose protocols based on their server configurations.
- Highly customizable: Sing-Box offers an extremely rich set of configuration options, allowing users to finely adjust routing rules, DNS settings, outbound and inbound connections, etc., to meet the personalized needs of advanced users. For example, it can achieve domestic and international traffic diversion, ad blocking, and other functions.
- Excellent performance: Sing-Box focuses on performance and efficiency in its design, striving to maintain low resource consumption and high connection speeds while providing powerful features.
- Active community and development: The Sing-Box project has an active development team and user community, with frequent software updates that can timely follow the latest internet technologies and respond to potential blockages.
- Multi-platform support: A configuration file can be written for use on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS.
- Ways to add proxy nodes: Proxy nodes can be added through adding subscription links or importing configuration files.
Disadvantages:
- Requires a strictly formatted configuration file, which has a learning cost for beginners.
- Frequently modifies configuration item formats, requiring timely updates to configuration files during upgrades.
- The operation interface UI and ease of use are not as good as those in the Clash ecosystem.
- Most proxy service providers still only provide Clash subscription links. Even if they provide Sing-Box subscription links, they may not be compatible with configuration items (because Sing-Box frequently modifies configuration item formats), making it impossible to use subscription links directly, requiring various processing.
- Does not support the load balance feature supported by Clash.
- Proxy nodes can be added through adding subscription links or importing configuration files.
For writing configuration files, please refer to: Configuration - sing-box
Code:
https://github.com/SagerNet/sing-box
https://github.com/SagerNet/sing-box-for-apple
Clash MI # #
The Clash client released in April 2025, developed by Karing's developers.
It is the first free, open-source proxy client based on Clash available on iOS. (Note that this sentence has many qualifiers.)
Core features:
- Multi-protocol support: Based on the latest and continuously updated Mihomo (Clash Meta) core. Clash is known for its powerful protocol support capabilities, compatible with various mainstream and emerging proxy protocols, including AnyTLS, Hysteria2, TUIC, mieru, Snell, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, SOCKS5. This means users can flexibly choose protocols based on their server configurations.
- Highly customizable: Clash offers an extremely rich set of configuration options, allowing users to finely adjust routing rules, DNS settings, outbound and inbound connections, etc., to meet the personalized needs of advanced users. For example, it can achieve domestic and international traffic diversion, ad blocking, and other functions.
- Excellent performance: Clash focuses on performance and efficiency in its design, striving to maintain low resource consumption and high connection speeds while providing powerful features.
- Active community and development: Clash-related projects have an active development team and user community, with frequent software updates that can timely follow the latest internet technologies and respond to potential blockages.
- Multi-platform support: You only need to write one configuration file to use it on Mihomo (Clash Meta) core clients across multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS.
- User interface: The user interface is easier to operate compared to Sing-Box, allowing users to conveniently select proxies in the graphical interface.
- Ways to add proxy nodes: Proxy nodes can be added through adding subscription links or importing configuration files.
Disadvantages:
- Requires a strictly formatted configuration file, which has a learning cost for beginners.
- Clash MI is a newly released client and may have unknown bugs, and may frequently modify the interface, settings, etc.
For writing configuration files, you can refer to: Configuration - Mihomo core documentation
Code:
Client https://github.com/KaringX/clashmi
Core https://github.com/MetaCubeX/mihomo/tree/Alpha
Hiddify # #
A universal network proxy tool based on Sing-Box.
Core features:
- Multi-protocol support: Based on Sing-Box, compatible with various mainstream and emerging proxy protocols, including Hysteria2, TUIC, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, SOCKS5. This means users can flexibly choose protocols based on their server configurations.
- TLS features: Provides the ability to enable TLS data segmentation, TLS mixed SNI, and TLS padding. These are features not available in several other clients mentioned in this article.
- User interface: The user interface is friendly for beginners. It is easy to operate.
- Built-in diversion rules: In the regional selection, you can choose Iran, China, Russia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil. It automatically diverts based on the network conditions in these regions. If you want a global proxy, you can choose others.
Disadvantages:
- It seems that you can only choose one proxy node to use. It will automatically connect to the best proxy based on testing, but you can also manually select the desired proxy.
- Does not allow users to finely set complex rules, such as diversion, etc.
- Ways to add proxy nodes: It seems that you can only add proxies by adding subscription links.
Introduction to the client App Guide - Hiddify
Code
https://github.com/hiddify/hiddify-app
https://github.com/hiddify/hiddify-sing-box
Karing # #
A universal network proxy tool compatible with Clash, based on Sing-Box, supporting clash/v2ray/ss subscriptions.
Core features:
- Multi-protocol support: Based on Sing-Box, compatible with various mainstream and emerging proxy protocols, including Hysteria2, TUIC, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, SOCKS5. This means users can flexibly choose protocols based on their server configurations.
- Highly customizable: Offers an extremely rich set of configuration options, allowing users to finely adjust routing rules, DNS settings, outbound and inbound connections, etc., to meet the personalized needs of advanced users. For example, it can achieve domestic and international traffic diversion, ad blocking, and other functions.
- Excellent performance: Sing-Box focuses on performance and efficiency in its design, striving to maintain low resource consumption and high connection speeds while providing powerful features.
- User interface: The user interface is friendly for beginners and provides some additional features. It allows users to add nodes one by one through the graphical interface.
- Ways to add proxy nodes: Proxy nodes can be added through adding subscription links, importing configuration files, or manually entering them one by one through the graphical interface.
Disadvantages:
- The user interface feels like it does not support proxy diversion very well.
Clash compatibility list | Karing - Clash compatible & Powerful proxy utility
Code:
https://github.com/KaringX/karing
Core: https://github.com/KaringX/sing-box
Outline # #
Outline is an open-source proxy tool developed by Google's Jigsaw team . It is based on the Shadowsocks protocol but provides very easy-to-use server-side deployment scripts and client software.
It is one of the earlier free, open-source proxy clients available on iOS.
Although it is still maintained today, since the protocol is Shadowsocks, if you are located in China, it is still recommended to avoid using it as much as possible.
Official website: Outline - Access to the free and open internet
Code https://github.com/Jigsaw-Code/
WireGuard # #
It is one of the earlier free, open-source proxy clients available on iOS. Cloudflare Warp also uses the WireGuard protocol.
If you are located in China, it is still recommended to avoid using it as much as possible because the WireGuard protocol is no longer suitable for GFW.
Disadvantages:
- Only supports the WireGuard protocol.
- Can only choose one proxy node to use.
- Does not allow users to finely set complex rules, such as diversion, etc.
Source code:
https://git.zx2c4.com/wireguard-apple
Other free clients # #
Streisand is compatible with protocols including Hysteria (V2), TUIC, etc.
v2box supports Reality, utls protocols.
Surge provides some free protocols, while emerging proxy protocols require payment.
Other versions of this webpage # #
This article has versions in multiple languages.
If you would like to leave a comment, please visit the following webpages:
These webpages only support browsing and do not allow comments or messages, but they provide more language options and load faster:
ZH EN ZH-TW JA RU KO CS ES AR FR PT DE TR IT NL SV DA FI PL UK HE RO HU EL HR TH HI BN ID SW VI NO