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Best Free Alternatives to Postman Pro
Stop paying $12 - $15/user/mo. Discover professional-grade tools that won't break your budget.
Category: API Development & TestingVerified for 2025
Top Recommended Replacements
Bruno
FREEThe 2025 Professional Standard
Why we like it
100% offline and local-first; stores collections as plain-text files in your Git repo (perfect for PRs); incredibly fast; no account or cloud login required.
Keep in mind
Newer ecosystem with fewer third-party plugins; lacks some of Postman's 'Cloud-only' monitoring features.
Hoppscotch
FREEBest Lightweight Web Choice
Why we like it
Fast, browser-based (and desktop) PWA; supports REST, GraphQL, WebSockets, and gRPC; clean, minimalist UI; self-hostable via Docker.
Keep in mind
Collaboration features are less mature than Postman's; browser-based interceptor can occasionally hit CORS issues.
Thunder Client
FREEBest for VS Code Users
Why we like it
Runs entirely inside VS Code/Cursor; very lightweight; saves data locally; includes environment variables and scriptless testing.
Keep in mind
Limited to the VS Code ecosystem; some team collaboration features require a paid subscription.
Insomnia (by Kong)
FREEBest for Design-First Teams
Why we like it
Exceptional UI/UX; natively supports Git-sync; powerful plugin system; excellent for managing OpenAPI specs and multi-protocol testing.
Keep in mind
Has started following Postman's path with more cloud-focused features; free tier has limits on team projects.
Apidog
FREEBest All-In-One Platform
Why we like it
Combines API design, documentation, debugging, mocking, and automated testing; incredible 'visual' test builder; 100% free for individual users.
Keep in mind
Can feel as 'bloated' as Postman due to the massive feature set; cloud-reliant for its best collaboration tools.
HTTPie Desktop
FREEBest for Human-Friendly Syntax
Why we like it
Famous for its clean, terminal-style syntax in a GUI; beautiful response formatting; very intuitive for quick API exploration.
Keep in mind
Lacks the deep automated 'Test Suite' capabilities of Bruno or Postman; focus is more on requests than management.
Firecamp
FREEBest for Multi-Protocol (WebSocket/Ably)
Why we like it
Top-tier support for real-time protocols like WebSocket, Socket.io, and MQTT; very developer-friendly UI; excellent for modern event-driven apps.
Keep in mind
Smaller community support; documentation is not as extensive as Postman's.
RapidAPI Client (formerly Paw)
FREEBest Native Mac Experience
Why we like it
Native macOS app with fluid performance; generates code snippets for almost every language; supports visual dynamic values.
Keep in mind
Windows version is still catching up to the Mac legacy; integrated into the broader RapidAPI marketplace which some find distracting.
Yaak
FREEBest 'Back-to-Basics' Tool
Why we like it
Created by the original founder of Insomnia; focuses on being a fast, simple, and local-only desktop client; open-source.
Keep in mind
Still in active development; missing complex features like 'Pre-request scripts' or 'Visualizer'.
REST Client (VS Code)
FREEBest for Coder Purists
Why we like it
Uses simple `.http` files; you can check your API requests directly into Git alongside your code; zero UI clutter.
Keep in mind
No graphical interface; requires writing text-based requests; manual effort to organize large collections.
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