The behavior of the absorbance profiles of free‐base 5,10,15,20–tetraphenylporphyrin (TPPH2) and zinc 5,10,15,20‐tetraphenylporphyrinate (ZnTPP) under exposure to HCl vapors was investigated to establish in detail the mechanism of protonation of these porphyrinic compounds and their potential for use as HCl sensors. We show that the intensities of diprotonated tetraphenylporphyrin absorption bands that arise at 444–446 and 662–666 nm increase as a function of the HCl exposure time. Reactions of free‐base meso‐tetraphenylporphyrin protonating and of zinc meso‐tetraphenylporphyrinate demetalation and subsequent protonating are discussed, and the solutions of the corresponding kinetic equations and respective reaction rates are also obtained. Finally, from a theoretical analysis we deduce the presence of intermediated monoprotonated porphyrin that helps us to explain why the isosbestic point in the TPPH2 reaction with HCl is not well defined.