Postman Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Postman alternatives: Bruno, Hoppscotch, Insomnia, Yaak and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•API & Testing
Verdict:Leave Postman if the free plan's single user and monthly call and monitor caps keep getting in the way, or if you want collections in your Git repository instead of someone else's cloud. Postman's page lists the Free plan at one user with 10,000 API calls and 1,000 monitoring requests a month, with Solo at $9 and Team at $19 per user on annual billing. Bruno is the closest match to what developers usually want: collections are plain files, review happens in pull requests, and the free edition handles REST, GraphQL and gRPC. Insomnia keeps a familiar interface and adds Git Sync on its free tier for up to three users. Hoppscotch needs no install and fits quick checks, while Yaak is a small desktop app for one person who pays only when used commercially. Swagger UI helps when the OpenAPI file is already your source of truth, but it will not replace scripted test suites. The cost of leaving is migration effort: scripts, mock servers and monitors do not always import cleanly. If your team depends on Postman's shared workspaces and API network, the paid plan may still be cheaper than rebuilding that process. For solo and small-team use, start with Bruno.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno | Free (Open Source edition: unlimited collection runner, REST/GraphQL/gRPC, 2 workspaces, Git support for public providers only); paid from $6 per user/month, billed annually (Pro) | Windows, macOS, Linux, CLI | Git-friendly offline API testing | Docs only |
| Hoppscotch | Free (Free plan with personal workspace, collections, environments and collection runner; no numeric limits listed) | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, CLI | Fast browser-based requests | Docs only |
| Insomnia | Free (Essentials: Git Sync for up to 3 users, unlimited local and cloud projects, 1,000 mock requests per month); paid from $12 per user/month (Pro), annual by default | Windows, macOS, Linux | Postman-like feel with Git sync | Docs only |
| Yaak | Free (Free for personal use; a license is required when using it at work (30-day commercial evaluation)); paid from $79 per year (Individual); $399 one-time lifetime; Business $149 per user/year | Windows, macOS, Linux | Lightweight personal API client | Docs only |
| Swagger | Free | Web | Testing from an OpenAPI spec | Docs only |
| Thunder Client | Free (Free plan: 3 collections, 30 requests per collection, 5 collection imports per month, 250 local collection runs per user per month); paid from $3 per user/month, billed annually (Starter, 1 user); Business $7, Enterprise $16 | VS Code, JetBrains | API Testing | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want collections stored in Git alongside code (Bruno is the pick)
- You prefer a Postman-like UI with a free tier (Insomnia is the pick)
- You just need to fire requests from the browser (Hoppscotch is the pick)
- You already maintain an OpenAPI file (Swagger is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Postman features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Postman today: Free (Free plan: 1 user, 10,000 Postman API calls and 1,000 monitoring requests per month; no private workspaces or guest viewers); paid from $9 per month (Solo, billed annually); Team $19 per user/month billed annually (Postman pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Postman alternatives
Postman's Free plan is limited to one user, with no team collaboration, no private workspaces and no collection viewers, plus 10,000 Postman API calls a month and one day of collection recovery. Team collaboration starts on the Team plan at $19 per user per month billed annually, and Solo at $9 is still single-user. Webhooks and custom domains need a paid plan, and private workspaces are Enterprise-only.
Bruno
Compared with Postman: Open-source MIT client that stores collections as plain files in Git. The free edition covers REST, GraphQL and gRPC, so you lose Postman's cloud workspaces but gain offline, versionable collections.
Price: Free (Open Source edition: unlimited collection runner, REST/GraphQL/gRPC, 2 workspaces, Git support for public providers only); paid from $6 per user/month, billed annually (Pro) (Bruno pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux, CLI. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 47.9k GitHub stars · latest release v4.3.0 (Oct 22, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Git-friendly offline API testing.
Worth knowing: Collections are stored as plain files in your repo. Ultimate is $11 per user/month billed annually.
Hoppscotch
Compared with Postman: MIT-licensed, runs in the browser and has a free plan with collections, environments and a runner. Lighter than Postman, with fewer enterprise governance features and a smaller monitoring story.
Price: Free (Free plan with personal workspace, collections, environments and collection runner; no numeric limits listed) (Hoppscotch pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, CLI. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 80.7k GitHub stars · latest release 2026.9.0 (Sep 30, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Fast browser-based requests.
Insomnia
Compared with Postman: Apache-2.0 client with a free Essentials plan including Git Sync for up to 3 users. Its layout is close to Postman's, though collaboration features sit behind paid tiers.
Price: Free (Essentials: Git Sync for up to 3 users, unlimited local and cloud projects, 1,000 mock requests per month); paid from $12 per user/month (Pro), annual by default (Insomnia pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 40.1k GitHub stars · latest release core@13.3.1 (Oct 9, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Postman-like feel with Git sync.
Worth knowing: Enterprise is $45 per user/month for up to 50 self-serve users.
Yaak
Compared with Postman: MIT-licensed source and free for personal use, with a license needed at work. A lean desktop client that skips Postman's monitors and team cloud, so it suits individuals more than organisations.
Price: Free (Free for personal use; a license is required when using it at work (30-day commercial evaluation)); paid from $79 per year (Individual); $399 one-time lifetime; Business $149 per user/year (Yaak pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. MIT (source); commercial license for prebuilt binaries at work (open source).
Project activity: 19.4k GitHub stars · latest release v2026.9.0 (Oct 10, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Lightweight personal API client.
Worth knowing: Source is MIT-licensed; licensing applies to the prebuilt binaries.
Swagger
Compared with Postman: Swagger UI is Apache-2.0 and free for documenting and trying endpoints from an OpenAPI file. It is not a full client, so you lose saved collections and test scripts that Postman provides.
Price: Free (Swagger pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Apache-2.0 (Swagger UI) (open source).
Project activity: 29.1k GitHub stars · latest release v5.34.0 (Oct 19, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Testing from an OpenAPI spec.
Other popular options (paid)
Thunder Client
Compared with Postman: Runs as an extension inside VS Code and JetBrains rather than a separate app. Free allows 3 collections and 30 requests each; Starter is $3 per user per month billed annually, against Postman's $9 Solo and $19 Team.
Price: Free (Free plan: 3 collections, 30 requests per collection, 5 collection imports per month, 250 local collection runs per user per month); paid from $3 per user/month, billed annually (Starter, 1 user); Business $7, Enterprise $16 (Thunder Client pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You want collections stored in Git alongside code: Bruno
- You prefer a Postman-like UI with a free tier: Insomnia
- You just need to fire requests from the browser: Hoppscotch
- You already maintain an OpenAPI file: Swagger
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Bruno, Hoppscotch, Insomnia, Yaak, Swagger: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Postman. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Postman, Bruno, Hoppscotch, Insomnia, Yaak, Swagger, Thunder Client. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.