HostsMan

Hostsman provides you with a comfortable and secure way to manage your hosts file. This is a text file containing host name - IP address correspondences and access rules to help you manage your network connections.

You can think of it as a very basic DNS/firewall rules set, however, an incorrect manipulation of this file can lead to serious security risks and network performance problems. This is precisely the issue that Hostsman solves, as you can use it to edit your hosts file in a risk-free way.

Hostsman offers you a complete set of tools and functions to appropriately manage your hosts file. For example, you can enable or disable it, import and export it, scan it for errors and duplicate entries, remove its comments, rearrange its hosts, use the "Hostsman Editor" to browse the file and add entries to it, replace its IP addresses with new ones, use the "Backup Manager" to create backups of your hosts file or restore it from previous backups, and others. One of the most interesting features of Hostsman is the so called "Exclusion List", which helps you avoid certain hostnames being added to your hosts file. The program even includes some complementary tools like a DNS Client Service manager and a hostnames resolver.

The most powerful function of the program is, in my opinion, the automatic update service, which allows you to get your hosts file automatically updated by retrieving the information from a group of trustworthy and well-known servers around the world. This service helps you keep your system safe and avoid accidentally connections to harmful or dangerous IP addresses or domains. The program comes with a predefined list of update servers, but you can easily add new ones, edit them or remove them.

To conclude, I'll say that hosts file edition is a highly technical task, almost exclusively reserved for network managers and system administrators. Therefore, Hostsman is a tool mostly designed for them. "Normal" users will rarely wish to browse or edit the information in their hosts files. Being a free tool, I would say it is a must-have for any network manager.