Teams look past Postman when they need a production gateway rather than a design and testing client, when per-user pricing grows with headcount instead of traffic, or when governance features sit on the Enterprise plan. Most go to Zuplo or Tyk for a gateway, or to Kong for a larger platform.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Zuplo
Edge-native API gateway configured as code · United States
A managed gateway built for developers, where policies and routes are defined as code in source control and deployed through Git workflows. It includes a developer portal with self-serve auth. It is a runtime for live traffic, not a client for writing and sharing test requests.
Switch from Postman if you want a code-first gateway with Git-based deploys instead of a design workspace.
Pricing: Free plan covers 100,000 requests a month; Builder starts at $25 a month plus usage beyond the included volume; Enterprise starts around $1,000 a month on an annual contract. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Zuplo →
2. Tyk
Open-source gateway with GraphQL federation, self-host or cloud · United Kingdom
The gateway is open source and written in Go, with support for REST, GraphQL, TCP, gRPC and MCP, and it can run on your own servers. A 48-hour cloud trial and a 14-day self-managed trial exist. It has no counterpart to Postman's collection-based testing workspace.
Switch from Postman if you want an open-source gateway you can self-host and run on your own infrastructure.
Pricing: Tyk Gateway is free and open source to self-host; the Core, Professional and Enterprise plans are quoted rather than published (Core is consumption-based, Professional a flat rate), and Tyk Cloud has a 48-hour free trial. (open source)
Full review: #2 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Tyk →
3. API7
Commercial platform built on the open-source Apache APISIX gateway · Singapore
Made by the original creators of Apache APISIX, which is open source under Apache 2.0. The company also ships AISIX, an open-source AI gateway written in Rust. It targets the runtime and the policy layer, so test collections, mocks and documentation stay elsewhere.
Switch from Postman if you want gateway software from the creators of Apache APISIX, with a cloud or self-hosted option.
Pricing: Apache APISIX is free and open source under Apache 2.0; API7 Cloud is pay-as-you-go at published rates ($2 per million calls plus $250 a month per gateway group), and API7 Enterprise is licensed annually per CPU core on quote. (open source)
Full review: #16 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit API7 →
4. Kong
Dominant open-source gateway with a large plugin ecosystem · United States
Kong Gateway is open source, and Konnect adds a managed control plane. The same company sells Insomnia, an API client and a direct counterpart to Postman's core tool, so one vendor can cover testing and runtime. Enterprise features are quoted separately.
Switch from Postman if you want one vendor for the gateway and an API client, with an open-source core.
Pricing: Kong Gateway is free and open source; Kong Konnect (the managed control plane) is priced on published usage-based tiers, with Enterprise features quoted separately. (open source)
Full review: #5 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Kong →
5. Gravitee.io
Open-source API gateway, governance and developer portal · United States
Positions itself as an agent and API management platform that covers securing, observing and productizing APIs, AI tools and MCP servers. A free open-source Community Edition can be self-hosted. Larger tiers are sold per production gateway, so cost follows deployment, not the number of developers.
Switch from Postman if you want API and AI-agent governance with a self-hostable open-source edition.
Pricing: Open-source Community Edition is free to self-host; the commercial API Management tiers start with Planet at a published $2,500 a month for one production gateway, with the larger Galaxy and Universe tiers quoted. (open source)
Full review: #4 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Gravitee.io →
6. Azure API Management
Microsoft's API gateway and management layer inside Azure · United States
A hybrid, multicloud management platform that supports the full API lifecycle, run as a Microsoft-managed service. It uses tiered units and a per-call Consumption tier instead of seats. Importing and publishing an API is a documented tutorial. It is stronger inside Azure estates than outside them.
Switch from Postman if your workloads and identity already run on Azure and you want a managed platform.
Pricing: Classic (Developer, Basic, Standard, Premium) and v2 tiers billed per unit per month, plus a Consumption tier billed per call with the first million operations a month included; Azure's general free-account trial credits apply to early testing. (free trial)
Full review: #7 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Azure API Management →
7. AWS API Gateway
Serverless-native API gateway for AWS workloads · United States
An AWS service for creating, publishing, maintaining, monitoring and securing REST, HTTP and WebSocket APIs. It sits in front of AWS and other backends and is billed per call, not per user. It does not offer a collection-based testing or mocking workspace.
Switch from Postman if your backends already run on AWS and you want pay-per-call pricing.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go per million calls, from $1.00 for HTTP APIs and $3.50 for REST APIs; accounts opened before July 15, 2025 keep a 12-month free tier of one million calls a month, while newer accounts get up to $200 in credits over six months. (free trial)
Full review: #8 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit AWS API Gateway →
8. Google Apigee
Enterprise API platform with monetization and deep analytics · United States
Google Cloud's API management product, covering REST, SOAP, GraphQL and gRPC styles. It offers pay-as-you-go or subscription pricing and a free 60-day sandbox for evaluation. Its scale and environment-based model suit larger programs, and it is heavier to adopt than a design client.
Switch from Postman if you run large API programs, use several protocols, and want a Google Cloud-backed platform.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go billing per million API calls ($20 for Standard and $100 for Extensible proxies at the lowest band) plus a per-region environment fee from $365 a month; subscription tiers are quoted, and a 60-day evaluation sandbox is free. (free trial)
Full review: #9 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit Google Apigee →
9. MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
Enterprise integration platform with API management built in · United States
Part of Salesforce's MuleSoft, which pairs API management with integration and connector products, and now frames governance around AI agents. Buying is by quote through sales. It fits organizations that want integration and APIs under one contract, not teams wanting a self-serve tool.
Switch from Postman if you need integration and API management on one contract and already work with Salesforce.
Pricing: Quote-only annual contracts, typically bundling API management with the platform's broader integration and connector licensing. (free trial)
Full review: #10 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit MuleSoft Anypoint Platform →
10. IBM API Connect
Enterprise API gateway with hybrid and mainframe integration · United States
IBM positions it as an API lifecycle product to develop, manage, secure and socialize all API types wherever they live. It can be bought as SaaS or as self-managed software, with a free trial offered. Pricing is not published, and the scope is wider than design and test.
Switch from Postman if you need API lifecycle management that can run as self-managed software under an enterprise contract.
Pricing: Sold as pay-as-you-go SaaS on AWS, annual SaaS subscriptions (Standard, Premium, Reserved Instance) and self-managed software; prices are not published, and the SaaS tiers come with a 30-day free trial. (free trial)
Full review: #11 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit IBM API Connect →
11. WSO2
Open-source API management with strong on-premises support · Sri Lanka
WSO2 API Manager is open source, with its code in a public GitHub organization. Subscription support and managed or hybrid options are sold separately. The Sri Lankan vendor targets teams that want to run the platform themselves. It carries a heavier operational load than Postman's hosted workspace.
Switch from Postman if you want a self-hosted, open-source API management platform with optional paid support.
Pricing: WSO2 API Manager is free and open source to self-host; subscription support, the managed Bijira SaaS and the hybrid option with a managed control plane are priced separately. (open source)
Full review: #13 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit WSO2 →
12. SAP API Management
API gateway inside SAP Business Technology Platform · Germany
Part of SAP Integration Suite, billed against a company's existing SAP BTP contract by call volume. It is built for SAP landscapes and integration scenarios. A team without SAP systems gains little from it, and it has no equivalent to Postman's shared collections.
Switch from Postman if your core systems are SAP and you want API management under the same BTP contract.
Pricing: Consumption-based pricing through SAP BTP credits, billed per API call volume against a company's existing BTP contract. (free trial)
Full review: #12 of 16 in our ranking ·
Visit SAP API Management →
Questions and answers
Can I export my data from Postman?
Yes, Postman exports collections and environments as JSON files, and global variables can be exported as well. On a team, only Admins and Super Admins can request the bulk export of all workspaces. The download link arrives by email and is available for two days.
What does Postman cost, and what is on which plan?
Free covers one user, Solo is $9 a month and Team is $19 per user per month, both billed annually. Enterprise is quoted. The API Catalog, Private API Network, governance, audit logs and advanced access control are Enterprise features. SSO on Team is a paid add-on.
Is Postman an API gateway?
No, Postman's platform is an API client, specs, mock servers, flows and monitors for the design and test side. It lists production monitoring and an API Catalog, not a traffic-handling gateway. Teams that need live routing, rate limiting and security put a gateway such as Kong, Tyk or Zuplo in front of their APIs.
Can I keep using Postman next to a new gateway?
Yes, and many teams do, because Postman and a gateway cover different jobs. The Postman CLI runs collections and checks specs in CI. Moving the gateway does not require removing Postman, and the Free plan costs nothing for a single user.
Is there an alternative to Postman as an API client?
Yes, Kong's Insomnia is an API client from a gateway vendor, and Postman's own docs describe a wizard to migrate from Insomnia, Hoppscotch, SoapUI and Thunder Client. This page lists gateways and platforms, so check the client market separately if you only want to replace the desktop tool.
What breaks first when leaving Postman?
Scheduled monitors, mock servers and Flows are the first things to stop, because they run inside the Postman Cloud. Collections survive as JSON, but any scripts using the Postman sandbox need rewriting. Inventory these before cancelling, and set the cutover date after replacements run in parallel.
