diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 86d73e0..1a8f409 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ The main goal for this package is to provide a simple and easy-to-use testing en
 - 🥜 Run Nitro per test suite or globally
 - ✅ Seamless integration with Vitest
 - 🪝 Conditional code execution based on test mode (`import.meta.test`)
-- 📡 Familiar [`$fetch`](#fetch) helper like Nuxt test utils
+- 📡 Familiar [`$fetchRaw`](#fetchRaw) helper similar to Nuxt test utils
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -56,12 +56,12 @@ Write your tests in a dedicated location, e.g. a `tests` directory. You can use
 A simple teste case could look like this:
 
 ```ts
-import { $fetch } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
+import { $fetchRaw } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 describe('api', () => {
   it('responds successfully', async () => {
-    const { data, status } = await $fetch('/api/health')
+    const { data, status } = await $fetchRaw('/api/health')
 
     expect(status).toBe(200)
     expect(data).toMatchSnapshot()
@@ -84,11 +84,11 @@ export default defineConfig()
 
 Contrary to the global setup, the Nitro server is not started automatically by Vitest. Instead, you need to call the `setup` function in each test suite to start the Nitro server. After each test suite, the Nitro server is shut down.
 
-Use the `nitro-test-utils/e2e` module to import the `setup` function and the `$fetch` helper. The `setup` function accepts an options object with the `rootDir` property, which should point to the directory where the Nitro server is located. For more options, see the [Configuration](#configuration) section.
+Use the `nitro-test-utils/e2e` module to import the `setup` function and the `$fetchRaw` helper. The `setup` function accepts an options object with the `rootDir` property, which should point to the directory where the Nitro server is located. For more options, see the [Configuration](#configuration) section.
 
 ```ts
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
-import { $fetch, setup } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
+import { $fetchRaw, setup } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 describe('api', async () => {
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ describe('api', async () => {
   })
 
   it('responds successfully', async () => {
-    const { data, status } = await $fetch('/api/health')
+    const { data, status } = await $fetchRaw('/api/health')
 
     expect(status).toBe(200)
     expect(data).toMatchSnapshot()
@@ -217,11 +217,61 @@ describe('api', async () => {
 
 ## Test Utilities
 
-### `$fetch`
+### `injectServerUrl`
 
-The `$fetch` function is a simple wrapper around [`ofetch`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch) and is used to make requests to your Nitro server during testing. Import the function from the `nitro-test-utils/e2e` module. It will dynamically use the base URL of the active test server.
+To get the URL of the active test server for the current test suite or global test environment, you can use the `injectServerUrl` function.
 
-`$fetch` returns a promise that resolves with the raw response from [`ofetch.raw`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch?tab=readme-ov-file#-access-to-raw-response). This is useful because it allows you to access the response status code, headers, and body, even if the response failed.
+**Usage:**
+
+```ts
+import { injectServerUrl } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
+
+describe('api', () => {
+  it('should log the Nitro server URL', async () => {
+    const serverUrl = injectServerUrl()
+    console.log(serverUrl) // http://localhost:3000
+  })
+})
+```
+
+**Type Declaration:**
+
+```ts
+function injectServerUrl(): string
+```
+
+### `createFetch`
+
+Creates a custom [`ofetch`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch) instance with the Nitro server URL as the base URL.
+
+> [!TIP]
+> The following additional fetch options have been set as defaults:
+>
+> - `ignoreResponseError: true` to prevent throwing errors on non-2xx responses.
+> - `redirect: 'manual'` to prevent automatic redirects.
+> - `headers: { accept: 'application/json' }` to force a JSON error response when Nitro returns an error.
+
+**Usage:**
+
+Inside a test case:
+
+```ts
+import { createFetch } from 'nitro-test-utils/e2e'
+
+const $fetch = createFetch()
+```
+
+**Type Declaration:**
+
+```ts
+function createFetch(): $Fetch
+```
+
+### `$fetchRaw`
+
+The `$fetchRaw` function is a simple wrapper around the custom [`ofetch`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch) `$Fetch` instance created by `createFetch`. It simplifies requesting data from your Nitro server during testing. Import the function from the `nitro-test-utils/e2e` module. It will dynamically use the base URL of the active test server.
+
+`$fetchRaw` returns a promise that resolves with the raw response from [`ofetch.raw`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch?tab=readme-ov-file#-access-to-raw-response). This is useful because it allows you to access the response status code, headers, and body, even if the response failed.
 
 **Usage:**
 
@@ -229,7 +279,7 @@ Inside a test case:
 
 ```ts
 // Use `data` instead of `body` for the parsed response body
-const { data, status, headers } = await $fetch('/api/hello')
+const { data, status, headers } = await $fetchRaw('/api/hello')
 
 expect(status).toBe(200)
 expect(data).toMatchSnapshot()
@@ -238,17 +288,41 @@ expect(data).toMatchSnapshot()
 **Type Declaration:**
 
 ```ts
-function $fetch<T = any, R extends ResponseType = 'json'>(
+interface TestFetchResponse<T> extends FetchResponse<T> {
+  /** Alias for `response._data` */
+  data?: T
+}
+
+function $fetchRaw<T = any, R extends ResponseType = 'json'>(
   path: string,
   options?: FetchOptions<R>
-): Promise<FetchResponse<MappedResponseType<R, T>>>
+): Promise<TestFetchResponse<MappedResponseType<R, T>>>
 ```
 
 > [!TIP]
-> Fetch options will be merged with sensible default options, like [`ignoreResponseError`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch?tab=readme-ov-file#%EF%B8%8F-handling-errors) set to `true` to prevent the function from throwing an error when the response status code is not in the range of 200-299.
+> All additional options set in [`createFetch`](#createfetch) apply here as well, sucg has [`ignoreResponseError`](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch?tab=readme-ov-file#%EF%B8%8F-handling-errors) set to `true` to prevent the function from throwing an error when the response status code is not in the range of 200-299.
 
 ## Migration
 
+### From v0.8 to v0.9
+
+In v0.8 and earlier, `$fetch` returned an object, contrary to what `$fetch` does in Nitro, Nuxt (client and server) and ofetch itself, which returns the response body. Using the same name is a fragmentation that causes the same function to behave differently in test utilities.
+
+As such, the `$fetch` function has been renamed to `$fetchRaw` to better reflect its behavior. To update your tests, simply rename the import and function call:
+
+```diff
+-import { $fetch } from '../src/e2e'
++import { $fetchRaw } from '../src/e2e'
+
+describe('api', async () => {
+  it('should respond data', async () => {
+-    const { status } = await $fetch('/')
++    const { status } = await $fetchRaw('/')
+    expect(status).toBe(200)
+  })
+})
+```
+
 ### From v0.7 to v0.8
 
 The Nitro test utilities have been rewritten to provide flexible Nitro setups per test suite. The global Nitro setup was previously implicit and is now explicit. To upgrade and keep the same testing behavior, add the `global` option to the Nitro configuration in the `vitest.config.ts` file:
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index c60df2f..513170c 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-export { $fetch, setup } from './e2e'
+export { $fetchRaw, createFetch, injectServerUrl, setup } from './e2e'
 
 export * from './types'
diff --git a/test/production.test.ts b/test/production.test.ts
index 9505b7b..15a45c2 100644
--- a/test/production.test.ts
+++ b/test/production.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { $fetch, setup } from '../src/e2e'
+import { $fetchRaw, setup } from '../src/e2e'
 
 describe('production', async () => {
   await setup({
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ describe('production', async () => {
   })
 
   it('should respond from production server build', async () => {
-    const { data } = await $fetch('/')
+    const { data } = await $fetchRaw('/')
     expect(data).toBe('Hello, production build!')
   })
 })
diff --git a/test/routes.test.ts b/test/routes.test.ts
index ce82356..060641f 100644
--- a/test/routes.test.ts
+++ b/test/routes.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { $fetch, setup } from '../src/e2e'
+import { $fetchRaw, setup } from '../src/e2e'
 
 describe('routes', async () => {
   await setup({
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('routes', async () => {
   })
 
   it('should respond with 200 status code', async () => {
-    const { data } = await $fetch('/api/health')
+    const { data } = await $fetchRaw('/api/health')
     expect(data).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "ok": true,
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ describe('routes', async () => {
   })
 
   it('should return custom environment variables', async () => {
-    const { data } = await $fetch('/api/env')
+    const { data } = await $fetchRaw('/api/env')
     expect(data).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "isDev": true,