Written by the Apidog team. Apidog is on this list, so read it knowing that. Every price and license below was checked on the vendor's own site on September 8, 2026, and where another tool is the better fit for a specific job, we say so.
Postman changed its plans in March 2026. The Free plan is now one user who cannot create a team, the Basic and Professional tiers are gone, Solo costs $9 a month for one person, and Team costs $19 per user per month. In the same change Postman made collection runs and mock servers unlimited on every plan, so the old complaint about the 25-run cap no longer applies. What is left is a pricing model built around seats. If you are a team of two to five, that is the reason you are reading this page.
The short verdict. For a team that wants design, mocking, testing, and documentation to stay in sync, Apidog is the closest thing to a full Postman replacement and its free plan covers four users. For a Git-first developer who wants collections as files in the repository, Bruno. For a browser-only, zero-install client, Hoppscotch. For an editor-first workflow, Thunder Client inside VS Code. For terminal and CI work, HTTPie. The rest of this page is the detail behind those calls.
The 8 alternatives at a glance
| Tool | License | Free plan | Paid entry (annual) | Collaboration | Mocks | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apidog | Proprietary | 4 users, unlimited runs and mocks | $9/user/month | Real-time co-editing, branches | Generated from schema | Published from the spec |
| Bruno | MIT | Full client | Pro $6/user/month; Ultimate $11 | Through Git | Local only | None |
| Insomnia | Apache 2.0 | Git Sync for 3 users, 1,000 mock requests/month | Pro $12/user/month; Enterprise $45 | Cloud or Git projects | Cloud, metered on Free | Basic |
| Hoppscotch | MIT | Unlimited workspaces, collections, requests, runners | Organization $6/user/month | Team workspaces | New | Thin |
| Yaak | MIT | Free for personal use | $79/year; Business $149/user/year | None | Local | None |
| Thunder Client | Proprietary | HTTP, local collections, environments | Starter $3/user/month; Business $7; Enterprise $16 | Paid Git storage | None | None |
| HTTPie | CLI is BSD-3 | CLI free | Desktop app | Shared sessions | None | None |
| Scalar API client | MIT | Client free; platform Free is 3 APIs | Platform Pro $150/month | Through the docs platform | None | Excellent |
| Postman (for reference) | Proprietary | 1 user, unlimited runs and mocks | Solo $9/month (1 user); Team $19/user/month | Team workspaces | Unlimited | Published collections |
1. Apidog
Apidog is one project that holds the OpenAPI spec, the debug requests, the generated mocks, the test scenarios, and the published docs. Change a response schema and the mock, the schema assertions in your tests, and the docs update from it, which is the thing Postman's loosely coupled collections, mocks, and docs do not do.
Free plan: up to four users, unlimited test and collection runs, unlimited mock calls, real-time collaboration, sprint branches, and SQL database steps in tests. Paid: Basic $9 per user per month, Professional $18, Enterprise $27, all annual, with a 14-day trial. Enterprise includes SAML SSO, SCIM, audit logs with an API, a doc IP allowlist, an EU-hosted instance, and an on-premises edition.
Testing is scenario-based: assemble endpoint cases, add visual assertions, pass values between steps, attach a data table for data-driven runs, and query a database to confirm a write. Postman-style pm.* scripts run as they are, so imported collections keep their test logic. The CLI runs the same scenarios in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Jenkins.
Where Postman still wins: the public API Network, passive multi-region monitoring, and an organization-wide governance rulebook. If those are your requirements, keep Postman for them.
Switch: import the Postman collection and environments directly; the guide is how to migrate from Postman to Apidog, and the full side-by-side, including Postman's own claims about Apidog, is Apidog vs Postman.
2. Bruno
Bruno stores each request as a .bru text file in your repository, works offline, needs no account, and is MIT-licensed with about 47,000 GitHub stars. Reviewing an API change is a pull request. Pro at $6 adds in-app Git integration, an unlimited collection runner, and code generation; Ultimate at $11 adds SSO, SCIM, and audit logs.
The wall: nothing that needs a shared server. No live co-editing, no hosted mock, no published docs, and OpenAPI sync is capped at five a month on Pro. Bruno is request-first, so the spec is a byproduct rather than the source. See Postman vs Bruno and Bruno limitations.
3. Insomnia
Kong's Insomnia is Apache 2.0 with about 40,000 stars and covers REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, and SSE. Projects can live locally, in Git, or in Kong's cloud, and Enterprise can mandate which. Free covers Git Sync for up to three users and 1,000 mock requests a month; Pro is $12 per user and Enterprise $45.
The wall: design, tests, mocks, and docs are separate features rather than one loop, mocks are metered on Free, and Pro costs more than Apidog's Basic. See Postman vs Insomnia.
4. Hoppscotch
Hoppscotch runs in a browser tab with nothing to install, is MIT-licensed with about 80,000 stars, and its free plan states no caps on workspaces, collections, requests, or runners. You can self-host it from the repository. Organization pricing is $6 per user.
The wall: requests to localhost need the desktop app or a browser extension, documentation publishing is thin, mocking is new, and there is no scenario testing with database steps. See Postman vs Hoppscotch.
5. Yaak
Yaak is a local-first desktop client (MIT) that never syncs or transmits your data. It is free for personal use, $79 a year for commercial use, or $399 once for a lifetime license, and it covers REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, and SSE.
The wall: no sync, no shared workspace, no docs, no mocks, no CI runner. If two people need the same collection, you export a file. See what is Yaak.
6. Thunder Client
Thunder Client is a request panel inside VS Code. The free tier covers HTTP requests, local collections, and environments. Since 2023, Git-tracked collection storage, WebSocket, SSE and gRPC, custom scripting, and the CLI are paid, and collection runs are metered per plan: 250 a month on Starter ($3), 500 on Business ($7), unlimited on Enterprise ($16).
The wall: most of what a team needs is behind the paywall, and collections live in extension storage. See Postman vs Thunder Client and the Thunder Client paywall.
7. HTTPie
HTTPie's CLI (BSD-3, about 38,500 stars) is the friendliest way to send requests from a terminal: JSON by default, sessions, plugins, and readable output. It pairs with any of the GUI tools above for scripting and CI checks, and there is a desktop app for people who want the same model with a window.
The wall: it is a request tool, not a platform. No collections in the Postman sense, no mocks, no docs, no test scenarios. For CI runners specifically, see Postman CLI alternatives.
8. Scalar API client
Scalar's API client is open source (MIT) on web, macOS, Linux, and Windows, and it sits next to the best-looking OpenAPI reference renderer on this list. If the reason you used Postman was published documentation, Scalar's platform generates docs, SDKs, and MCP servers from one spec. The platform's Free tier covers three APIs and one editor seat; Pro is $150 a month.
The wall: testing and mocking are not first-class, and platform pricing scales by API count rather than seats. See Apidog vs Scalar.
How to choose
- Two to five people who want one tool: Apidog. The free plan covers four users, the first paid seat is $9, and nothing drifts because the spec is the source.
- Solo developer, Git-first: Bruno. Add Apidog later if the team grows and needs mocks and docs.
- No install allowed, or a locked-down laptop: Hoppscotch in the browser.
- Everything in the editor: Thunder Client, or the Apidog VS Code extension if you want unlimited runs and protocols on the free plan.
- Terminal and CI: HTTPie for ad-hoc requests, the Apidog CLI or Hurl for scripted suites.
- Docs are the deliverable: Scalar for a public portal, Apidog if the docs must stay tied to the tests.
- You need the API Network, multi-region monitors, or enterprise governance: stay on Postman for that job.
Migrating off Postman
Every tool here imports Postman collections or OpenAPI. Export each collection and environment as JSON from Postman, then import. Apidog and Insomnia read the Postman format directly and keep folder structure; Bruno and Hoppscotch import collections; Yaak and Thunder Client import Postman JSON as well. Scripts are the part that needs checking: Apidog runs pm.* scripts unchanged, the others map them to their own scripting model or drop them. Flows do not export anywhere; those get rebuilt as test scenarios or CI jobs.
If security is what pushed you, the Axios npm attack post covers the supply-chain angle and the migration checklist. If you only need a browser tool for quick checks, the online Postman-like tools list is the shorter read.
FAQ
What is the best Postman alternative? For teams, Apidog: free for four users, spec-first, with mocks, tests, and docs in one project. For a single developer who wants files in Git, Bruno.
Is there a free Postman alternative for teams? Yes. Apidog's free plan is four users with unlimited runs and mocks. Postman Free is one user. The full breakdown of free tiers is in free Postman alternatives.
Which Postman alternatives are open source? Bruno, Hoppscotch, Yaak, Insomnia, HTTPie's CLI, and Scalar's client. The open-source Postman alternatives page compares ten with their licenses.
Does Postman still limit collection runs? No. Since March 2026 collection runs and mock servers are unlimited on every Postman plan, including Free. The change that matters is the one-user Free plan and the $19 Team seat; see Postman pricing 2026.
Can I self-host a Postman alternative? Hoppscotch can be self-hosted from its repository. Bruno and Yaak are local apps with no server. Apidog offers a self-hosted runner, an EU region, and an on-premises edition; the team-focused comparison is in the best Postman alternative for teams.
Prices, licenses, and plan limits were checked on September 8, 2026 and will be re-checked when a vendor changes them.
