FLEX by Flipboard

An in-app debugging and exploration tool for iOS

Verdict 73/100 health $4.13/mo cheapest, hetzner 2/5 setup difficulty Last release 3.5 years ago

Self-host FLEX on hetzner CAX11 for $4.13/mo.

Health score
73 /100
6-dim composite
Self-hosts from
$4.13 /mo
hetzner · CAX11
Difficulty
2 /5
Docker + read README
GitHub stars
15k
1.8k forks

About FLEX

From the project's README at github.com/Flipboard/FLEX. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.

[](https://cocoapods.org/?q=FLEX) [](https://github.com/Flipboard/FLEX/blob/master/LICENSE) []() [](https://twitter.com/ryanolsonk) [](https://travis-ci.org/Flipboard/FLEX) [](https://github.com/Carthage/Carthage)

FLEX (Flipboard Explorer) is a set of in-app debugging and exploration tools for iOS development. When presented, FLEX shows a toolbar that lives in a window above your application. From this toolbar, you can view and modify nearly every piece of state in your running application. Give Yourself Debugging Superpowers Inspect and modify views in the hierarchy. See the properties and ivars on any object. Dynamically modify many properties and ivars. Dynamically call instance and class methods. Observe detailed network request history with timing, headers, and full responses. Add your own simulator keyboard shortcuts. View system log messages (e.g. from ). Access any l

Health score breakdown

6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.

activity
67
maturity
100
community
88
security
70
sustainability
88
adoption
38

Adoption signals

Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.

SignalValueSource
GitHub stars 15k github.com/Flipboard/FLEX
GitHub forks 1.8k github.com/Flipboard/FLEX

Release & maintenance

Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.

Project age11.9 yearssince May 2014
Last commit16 days agoApr 21, 2026
Releases shipped31last: 3.5 years ago
Funding links1declared by maintainers

Self-hosting cost across providers

Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.

ProviderPlanSpecsMonthly
hetzner CAX11 2c · 4GB · 40GB $4.13 USD Deploy →
vultr VC2 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5 USD Deploy →
linode Nanode 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5.12 USD Deploy →
digitalocean Basic Regular 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $6 USD Deploy →

What people say on Hacker News

Ready to self-host FLEX?

Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.

Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

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