Hosts Switchr app icon

Hosts Switchr

Switch your /etc/hosts with a click — profiles, blocklists, and reusable fragments, right from the menu bar.

Download for macOS

v1.4.1·macOS 26 (Tahoe)+·Free & open-source

Profiles
127.0.0.1	localhost
255.255.255.255	broadcasthost
::1		localhost

# Local apps
127.0.0.1	myapp.test
127.0.0.1	api.myapp.test

Fragments

Docker
Studio
Sandbox

Sources

Not a screenshot — click around. Nothing here touches your real hosts file.

Everything lives in the menu bar

A profile is a named /etc/hosts. Build a few, switch between them instantly, and layer on blocklists and snippets as you need them. Coming from Gas Mask? Same idea, rebuilt natively for modern macOS.

Switchable profiles

Create named /etc/hosts setups and flip between them from the menu bar. The active one is a single click away.

Blocklist subscriptions

Subscribe to hosts-format lists — the StevenBlack built-ins, or your own URL. They refresh in the background with ETag caching.

Reusable fragments

Toggle a snippet — like your Docker container hostnames — into any profile. Edit freely; re-apply once when you're ready.

Stale-aware apply

A "needs re-apply" badge appears when your edits drift from what's live. Cancel reverts cleanly to the applied state.

Import & export

Back up your whole setup to JSON, restore it on another Mac, or import a plain hosts file as a profile or fragment.

Quiet & self-updating

Runs menu-bar-only, no Dock icon. New versions install themselves in place from GitHub — no quitting, no drag-and-drop.

Installing an unsigned app

Hosts Switchr uses no Apple Developer Program, so macOS asks you to approve it once. Here's the whole dance.

  1. Open the app

    Double-click Hosts Switchr. When macOS says it "can't verify the developer," click Done — not "Move to Trash."

  2. Allow it in Settings

    Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to Security, and click Open Anyway.

  3. Confirm

    Authenticate and click Open. macOS only asks once — after that it launches normally.

Your machine stays in your hands. /etc/hosts only ever changes when you click Apply, via one admin-password prompt. No signing, no background helper daemon, no Developer Program. Don't take our word for it: read the code that writes /etc/hosts, and check your download against the SHA-256 listed in each release.