Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment gives a vendor more visibility, higher up on the review pages; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in API testing tools
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 11 tools, reviewed
#1 Bruno
Git-native API client with collections as plain files · United States · usebruno.com
Git-native open source offline
Bruno takes first place because it answers the question that sent most teams looking: where do our requests and tests live? In folders of text files next to the code, so a pull request shows exactly which request changed and who approved it. There is no account to create and no cloud sync to switch off.
- Pricing: Open source + paid tiers. Open source edition at $0; Pro at $6 and Ultimate at $11 per user per month, both billed annually; 14-day Ultimate trial without a card. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Teams that review API changes in Git
- Strengths: REST, GraphQL and gRPC requests; Collections as YAML files; Collection runner.
Where it falls short
Collaboration is whatever your Git provider offers, so a product manager or a tester who does not use Git gets little from it.
Wrong for
Mixed teams where non-developers need a shared cloud workspace with comments, or groups that want scheduled uptime monitoring of live endpoints.
Visit Bruno →
#2 Thunder Client
REST client inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs · Ireland · thunderclient.com
IDE extension EU vendor low price
Thunder Client earns second place for a narrow reason: the request tool is where the developer already is. Requests, environments and runs sit in the editor sidebar, so there is no second window to keep in sync. The price ladder is the cheapest in this ranking, with a $3 individual tier and a $7 team tier that adds invoice payment and centralized billing.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free tier with limits (3 collections, 30 requests each); Starter $3, Business $7 and Enterprise $16 per user per month on annual billing; payment by invoice from Business. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Developers who never want to leave the editor
- Strengths: VS Code and JetBrains extension; WebSocket, SSE and gRPC; MCP server for AI tools.
Where it falls short
The free tier is a trial in practice: three collections, thirty requests per collection, five imports a month and one collection run a month. Monthly run quotas apply on Starter and Business.
Wrong for
Teams whose testers work outside an IDE, or anyone who wants a standalone app with a shared web workspace.
Visit Thunder Client →
#3 Kreya
Privacy-first desktop client strongest on gRPC · Switzerland · kreya.app
gRPC Swiss vendor local files
Kreya sits third because it does one hard thing properly. Most clients treat gRPC as an add-on; Kreya imports protobuf files, descriptor sets and server reflection, watches your specs for changes and handles streaming calls. Everything is stored as readable files you commit with the project, and the vendor states that all data stays on your device.
- Pricing: Open source + paid tiers. Free forever plan; paid Pro and Enterprise tiers with a 10-day trial; Pro is paid by card, Enterprise by card, PO or invoice (amounts not read). Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Backend teams working with gRPC and protobuf
- Strengths: gRPC with server reflection; REST, GraphQL and WebSocket; SSE streaming.
Where it falls short
Scripting, tests and collections require a paid license, so the free tier is a manual client. We could not read the amounts on its pricing page, which toggles between monthly and yearly in the browser.
Wrong for
Front-end developers who mostly poke at simple REST endpoints, and teams wanting browser-based sharing with non-engineers.
Visit Kreya →
#4 Testfully
API client plus monitoring, offline or cloud · Australia · testfully.io
offline mode monitoring SOC 2
Testfully ranks fourth because it joins two jobs that teams usually buy separately: a client for building requests and a monitor that replays them on a schedule against live endpoints. You choose per workspace whether data sits in the vendor cloud or offline on disk with Git integration, and the free edition includes one of each.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Developer edition $0; Team $14 and Enterprise $29 per user per month billed annually; monitoring credits sold as add-ons from $10 per month for 10K. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams that also need scheduled API checks
- Strengths: Offline and cloud workspaces; Postman and Insomnia import; Collection runner.
Where it falls short
Monitoring is metered. The free plan gets 2K credits, a 30-minute interval and two days of history, and busier schedules mean buying credit packs. Git integration applies only to offline workspaces. It is a smaller product than Postman, with fewer integrations and a thinner community.
Wrong for
Open source purists, and teams that want a client with no accounts at all.
Visit Testfully →
#5 Hoppscotch
Open source API client you can self-host · India · hoppscotch.com
open source self-hosted web client
Hoppscotch is fifth because it is the browser-first option. You open a URL, send a request and share a collection with no installer, or you deploy the open source code on your own servers when data must stay inside your network. The free plan already includes the collection runner, scripts and tests.
- Pricing: Open source + paid tiers. Free at $0; Business $6 and Enterprise $11 per user per month billed annually, for either Cloud or Self-Host. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams wanting a self-hosted web client
- Strengths: REST, GraphQL and realtime testing; Collections and environments; Pre-request scripts and tests.
Where it falls short
The free plan has only a personal workspace, so sharing with colleagues means paying. Browser-based sending is bound by CORS rules unless you run the desktop app or its local agent, which adds a setup step. Hoppscotch Limited publishes no address on pages we read.
Wrong for
Developers who want requests stored as files in the repository, and buyers who need a named legal address in the contract.
Visit Hoppscotch →
#6 Yaak
Local-first desktop client, paid only for work use · Canada · yaak.app
local-first one-time license open source
Yaak takes sixth place as the tool for a single developer who wants speed and ownership. It is built with Rust and Tauri, keeps one YAML file per request, folder and environment, and sends requests straight from your machine to your servers with no account and no automatic sync. The source is MIT-licensed and the desktop app reports no telemetry.
- Pricing: Per user / year. Free for personal use; commercial Individual $79 per year or $399 lifetime; Business $149 per user per year; 30-day trial without a card. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Individual developers who value speed
- Strengths: REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket and SSE; One YAML file per request; Git sync with built-in UI.
Where it falls short
A license is required as soon as the tool is used at work, which makes the free label conditional.
Wrong for
Companies that want central user management without a Git workflow, or testers who need a collection runner with reports.
Visit Yaak →
#7 Requestly
API client with local projects and Postman import · United States · requestly.com
Postman migration local projects multi-protocol
Requestly lands seventh because its pitch is migration. The import list covers Postman, OpenAPI, HAR, cURL, WSDL, SoapUI and Bruno, existing scripts reportedly run unchanged, and the vendor says it prices manual and scheduled collection runs without credits or metering. Local Projects keep collections as files on disk with two-way GitHub and GitLab sync, while Team Projects give shared real-time workspaces.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Team $10 and Team Pro $15 per user per month billed annually (5 users shown at $600 and $900 a year); Enterprise on request; 30-day free start. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Teams moving off Postman on a budget
- Strengths: REST, GraphQL and SOAP composers; WebSocket, Socket.IO, gRPC and MQTT; Local Projects with Git workflows.
Where it falls short
We found no permanent free plan on the pricing page, only a 30-day start. The company also sells an HTTP interception product under separate pricing, which can confuse a buyer comparing plans.
Wrong for
Hobbyists who need a free tool forever, and enterprises that need a long track record.
Visit Requestly →
#8 Insomnia
API client with local, Git or cloud storage · United States · insomnia.rest
local or cloud Kong ecosystem design-first
Insomnia is eighth because it has grown from a simple client into part of Kong's wider platform, and that suits some buyers more than others. The free tier is generous in places: unlimited collection runs, unlimited environments, the Inso CLI and Git Sync for up to three users. A local-only Scratch Pad needs no login at all. The Pro tier at $12 lifts the user cap and adds role-based access.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Essentials at $0; Pro $12 and Enterprise $45 per user per month (self-serve to 50 users); extra mock requests $10 per 25,000. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams already invested in Kong's API stack
- Strengths: REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket and SSE; Local, Git or cloud storage; Inso CLI.
Where it falls short
Mock server requests are capped at 1,000 a month on the free tier and 10,000 on Pro, with metered overage. Enterprise at $45 per user is the steepest published team price here.
Wrong for
Teams on AWS or Azure gateways with no Kong plans, and buyers who want the lightest possible tool.
Visit Insomnia →
#9 Apidog
Design, docs, mock and test in one app · Singapore · apidog.com
all-in-one spec-first cloud workspace
Apidog sits ninth because it asks for a bigger commitment than a client. It tries to hold the whole life of an API in one workspace: the spec, the docs a partner reads, a mock for front-end developers and the test scenarios. All plans include Mac, Windows, Web and Linux apps, and the site offers a migration path from Postman.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free plan plus paid Basic and Professional tiers with a 14-day trial; we could not confirm amounts because the pricing page renders in the browser. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams wanting spec-first design in one tool
- Strengths: API design; Documentation publishing; Mock servers.
Where it falls short
Its pricing page is rendered in the browser, so we could not verify tier prices for this ranking. The Singapore entity is confirmed only through a third-party register and a Japanese page naming a US entity, so check who signs your contract.
Wrong for
Developers who only need to send requests and keep them in Git, or buyers who want one clearly named legal entity.
Visit Apidog →
#10 HTTPie
Command-line HTTP client with a desktop app · United States · httpie.io
CLI open source terminal
HTTPie is tenth because the product we are ranking, an API testing client for teams, is its newer half. The terminal tool is an open source classic for sending a request and reading a clean, colorized response, installable through apt, brew, choco, pip and other package managers.
- Pricing: Open source + paid tiers. Terminal client is open source; no pricing page found for the web and desktop app (the pricing URL returns 404). Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Engineers who live in the terminal
- Strengths: Terminal HTTP client; Web and desktop app; Export and import.
Where it falls short
The pages we read describe sending and inspecting requests, not scripted assertions, a collection runner, mocking or monitoring. The graphical app is labeled public beta, and we found no published pricing for any paid tier, so the cost of team use is unknown.
Wrong for
QA groups that need assertions, reports and scheduled runs.
Visit HTTPie →
#11 Postman
API platform covering design, test, mock and monitor · United States · postman.com
API platform monitors large ecosystem
Postman is eleventh in this ranking only because the order puts challengers ahead of the incumbent; on breadth it has no equal. Its pricing page shows Free, Solo at $9 and Team at $19 per user, with Git support, mock servers, a collection runner and local performance runs even on the free plan.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free at $0; Solo $9 per month and Team $19 per user per month billed annually; Enterprise on request; cloud performance testing $0.04 per virtual-user hour. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Larger teams standardizing on one platform
- Strengths: Multi-protocol API client; Collection Runner; Mock servers.
Where it falls short
Several features run on credits or add-ons: AI credits with overage at $0.05 each, cloud performance testing metered per virtual-user hour, and security as an add-on.
Wrong for
Small developer teams who only send requests and keep them in Git, and buyers who want no cloud account.
Visit Postman →
Questions and answers
What is the best API testing tool in 2026?
Bruno ranks first of 11, best for teams that review API changes in Git. Thunder Client is second (developers who never want to leave the editor) and Kreya third (backend teams working with gRPC and protobuf). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Is Postman still free to use?
Yes, Postman has a Free plan at $0 that includes the API client, specs, mock servers, native Git and the Collection Runner.
Which API testing tools work without creating an account?
Bruno states that it needs no account, login or cloud sync. Yaak reports no account requirement and no automatic cloud sync, and Insomnia's Scratch Pad needs no login.
What is the cheapest way to move a team off Postman?
Bruno's open source edition costs nothing, and its Pro tier is $6 per user per month, against $19 for Postman Team.
Do any of these tools handle gRPC well?
Kreya is built around it: it imports protobuf files, descriptor sets and server reflection, and handles streaming calls. Yaak, Insomnia, Bruno, Postman, Requestly and Thunder Client also list gRPC support.
Can I run API tests in a CI pipeline with these tools?
Yes, in most cases, though tiers differ.
Which tools are based in Europe?
Two of the eleven: Thunder Client, from Thunder Client Limited in Ireland with servers in Azure Ireland, and Kreya, from riok GmbH in Switzerland, which is outside the EU but under Swiss data protection law.
Is it safe to put production API keys in a client?
It depends on where the collection is stored. Local-first tools such as Yaak encrypt secrets with keys held in the operating system keychain, and Bruno keeps data on your machine.
Do I need a separate tool for load testing?
Usually yes. API clients focus on functional checks. Postman offers cloud performance testing metered per virtual-user hour, and Thunder Client lists performance testing as coming soon, but dedicated load testing tools handle larger volumes and reporting.
How long does it take to migrate existing collections?
For a few dozen requests, minutes. Requestly, Testfully, Kreya and Yaak list imports from Postman, Insomnia, Bruno or OpenAPI, so structure and variables usually carry over.
Should small teams pay for monitoring inside the testing tool?
Only if you do not already have uptime or synthetic monitoring. Testfully includes 2K monitoring credits on its free plan with a 30-minute interval and sells packs from $10 per month. Postman has monitors on paid tiers.
