API Clients (Dev Tools)
Postman alternatives — sending HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL requests during dev.
Native / desktop apps
- ★ Bruno — open source, git-friendly (collections are plaintext files in your repo), no required account, scriptable. The default for new TS teams in 2026.
- Hoppscotch — open source, available as web app, desktop, self-host. PWA-installable.
- Insomnia — Kong-owned; sync requires an account; powerful but heavier.
- Postman — incumbent; account-required; powerful but bloated.
- Yaak — newer Tauri-based desktop client; clean, fast.
- Paw / RapidAPI — Mac-only, paid.
- HTTPie Desktop — desktop GUI from the HTTPie team.
CLI / terminal
- ★ HTTPie — the friendliest curl alternative.
http GET api.example.com/users id==42. - curl — universal; not going anywhere.
- xh — Rust HTTPie clone; faster.
@usebruno/cli— run Bruno collections in CI.- httpyac —
.httpfile runner for the CLI. - Posting — TUI HTTP client; Textual-based, beautiful, free.
Editor-embedded
- ★ REST Client (VS Code extension by Huachao Mao) — write requests in
.httpfiles, run inline. The free + ubiquitous choice. - httpyac — VS Code + JetBrains; same
.httpfile format. - JetBrains HTTP Client — built into IntelliJ / WebStorm; same
.httpsyntax. - Hoppscotch CLI — for CI runs.
GraphQL specifically
- GraphiQL — official GraphQL IDE.
- Altair — feature-rich GraphQL desktop client.
- Apollo Studio Sandbox — Apollo's free hosted GraphQL playground.
- Insomnia / Bruno / Postman — all support GraphQL queries.
gRPC
- grpcui, grpcurl — CLI / web for gRPC.
- BloomRPC — desktop, archived but still works.
- Postman has gRPC support built in.
API contract / spec testing
- Schemathesis — property-based API testing from OpenAPI specs.
- Dredd — test docs against API.
- Hurl — file-based HTTP test runner; CI-friendly.
- Bruno + assertions — light contract tests in collections.
Pick this if…
- Default desktop client, git-friendly, free: Bruno.
- Web-first / self-hostable team: Hoppscotch.
- Stay in VS Code: REST Client extension.
- Smallest possible CLI: curl, HTTPie, or xh.
- CI contract tests from OpenAPI: Schemathesis or Hurl.