Written by the Apidog team. Apidog is on this list. Every free-plan limit below was checked on the vendor's pricing page on September 8, 2026, because "free" means seven different things across these tools.
Postman Free changed in March 2026. It is now one user who cannot create a team workspace, and Solo at $9 a month is still one user. The good news in the same change: collection runs and mock servers are unlimited on Free, so a single developer loses nothing. The problem starts at two people, where the next step is Team at $19 per user per month.
If you searched for a free Postman alternative, you are almost certainly a small team hitting that wall. This page lists what each free tier includes, in enough detail to know whether it covers you.
Free plans compared
| Tool | Users on the free plan | Runs | Mocks | Team collaboration | What is paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postman Free | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | None (Team $19/user/month) | Team workspaces, more monitoring, more AI credits |
| Apidog Free | 4 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Real-time co-editing, branches | Teams above 4: Basic $9/user/month, every seat billed |
| Bruno | Unlimited (MIT) | Unlimited in the app | Local only | Through Git | Pro $6: in-app Git, runner, codegen |
| Hoppscotch Free | Unlimited stated | Unlimited runners | New | Team workspaces | Organization $6: admin dashboard, support |
| Insomnia Essentials | Git Sync for 3 | Unlimited | 1,000 requests/month | Cloud or Git projects | Pro $12: unlimited users on Git Sync |
| Yaak | Personal use only | Unlimited | Local | None | $79/year for commercial use |
| Thunder Client Free | 1 | Metered | None | None | Starter $3: Git storage, protocols, CLI, 250 runs |
| HTTPie CLI | Unlimited (BSD-3) | Scripted | None | None | Desktop app |
1. Apidog: free for a team of four
Apidog's free plan is the only one on this page that covers a small team outright: up to four users, unlimited test and collection runs, unlimited mock calls, real-time co-editing of the same spec, sprint branches, published docs, and SQL database steps in tests, with no time limit and no credit card. Teams larger than four move to Basic at $9 per user per month on annual billing, with every member billed.
What you get that Postman Free does not: the team itself, plus spec-first design where the mock, the schema assertions, and the docs update from one schema. What you give up: the Postman API Network and Postman's multi-region monitors. Imported Postman collections keep their pm.* scripts. Guide: how to migrate from Postman to Apidog.
2. Bruno: free forever, files in Git
Bruno's client is MIT-licensed and complete for free: collections as .bru files in your repository, offline, no account. Collaboration is whatever your Git workflow is, which suits developers and does not suit product managers. Pro ($6) adds in-app Git integration and an unlimited collection runner.
Free-plan wall: no hosted mock, no docs site, no live co-editing. See Bruno limitations.
3. Hoppscotch: free and uncapped in the browser
Hoppscotch's free plan states no caps on workspaces, collections, requests, or runners, and it runs in a browser tab. Team workspaces are included; Organization at $6 per user adds an admin dashboard and support. It is MIT-licensed and self-hostable.
Free-plan wall: localhost needs the desktop app or an extension, docs publishing is thin, and there are no scenario tests with database steps. See Postman vs Hoppscotch.
4. Insomnia Essentials: free for three on Git Sync
Insomnia's free tier includes unlimited local and cloud projects, Git Sync for up to three users, and 1,000 mock requests a month. It is Apache 2.0 and covers REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, and SSE.
Free-plan wall: the fourth Git Sync user needs Pro at $12 per user, and mocks are metered. See Postman vs Insomnia.
5. Yaak: free for personal use
Yaak is MIT-licensed and local-first; it never syncs or transmits your data. Personal use is free. Commercial use is $79 a year or $399 once.
Free-plan wall: "personal" excludes work use, and there are no team features to unlock anyway. See what is Yaak.
6. Thunder Client: free inside VS Code, with a short list
The free tier covers HTTP requests, local collections, and environments inside VS Code. Git-tracked storage, WebSocket, SSE and gRPC, scripting, the CLI, and metered collection runs (250 a month) start at $3 per user on Starter.
Free-plan wall: most team and protocol features are paid. See the Thunder Client paywall.
7. HTTPie CLI: free in the terminal
HTTPie's command-line client is BSD-licensed and free: JSON by default, sessions, plugins. It pairs with any GUI tool for scripting and CI checks.
Free-plan wall: it is a request tool with no collections, mocks, docs, or tests.
Staying on Postman Free
If you are one person, Postman Free now includes unlimited runs and mocks, and the sensible move may be to stay. The tricks for sharing work without a Team plan (exporting collections, using a shared Git repository, keeping one shared account) are in how to use Postman for free. They stop working the moment two people need to edit the same collection at the same time.
Which free plan covers your team
- One person: Postman Free, Bruno, or Hoppscotch. No reason to pay anyone.
- Two to four people: Apidog Free is the only plan that gives the whole team a shared, live workspace at $0. Hoppscotch Free works if you only need shared collections and not mocks or docs.
- Two to three developers who live in Git: Bruno, or Insomnia Essentials with Git Sync.
- Five or more: every tool charges. Compare per-seat prices in the best Postman alternative for teams; Apidog is $9, Hoppscotch and Bruno $6 with fewer platform features, Insomnia $12, Postman $19.
FAQ
Is there a Postman alternative that is free for teams? Apidog, up to four users with unlimited runs and mocks. Hoppscotch's free plan also includes team workspaces but not mocks-and-docs-from-spec.
Does Postman Free still limit collection runs? No. Since March 2026 runs and mock servers are unlimited on every Postman plan. The limit is one user.
What is the best free open-source Postman alternative? Bruno for Git-first work, Hoppscotch for zero-install. The full license list is in open-source Postman alternatives.
Can I import my Postman collections into a free tool? Yes. Apidog, Bruno, Hoppscotch, Insomnia, and Yaak all import Postman JSON. Apidog runs the pm.* scripts unchanged.
Where do I see all the options, not only the free ones? Postman alternatives in 2026 compares eight tools including paid tiers, and Postman pricing 2026 explains what the paid Postman plans add.
Free-plan limits were checked on September 8, 2026.
