Alternatives to Postman: 4 Best for 2026

Alternatives to Postman in 2026: Bruno, Hoppscotch, Insomnia and Thunder Client cover API testing for free, and their team plans cost far less per seat.

Quick answer: pick Bruno if you want collections stored as plain files in Git, Hoppscotch if you want a fast browser client you can self-host, Insomnia if you need gRPC, WebSocket and mock servers with free Git Sync for a small team, and Thunder Client if you never want to leave VS Code. Prices below come from each official pricing page, checked November 12, 2026.

Why people leave Postman in 2026

Postman is still the most complete API platform, with specs, mock servers, monitors, flows, an MCP server and Agent Mode. The problem for small teams is the pricing structure. Postman’s own pricing page describes Free and Solo as single-player plans with 1 user each. The moment a second person needs to edit a collection, you are on Team at $19 per user a month billed yearly. For a team of five, that is $95 a month before add-ons.

Most people who search for a Postman alternative do not need the whole platform. They need to send requests, save collections, share them with teammates and run tests in CI. That job is now well covered by lighter tools.

Postman alternatives compared

Tool	Free plan	Paid from	Best for
Bruno	Open source, unlimited collection runs, 2 workspaces	Pro $6 per user a month (yearly)	Git-first teams
Hoppscotch	Free forever: REST, GraphQL and realtime, collections, scripts, runner	Business $6 per user a month (yearly)	Browser use and self-hosting
Insomnia	Essentials: Git Sync for up to 3 users, unlimited runs, 1,000 mock requests a month	Pro from $12 per user a month	Multi-protocol APIs and mocks
Thunder Client	10 collections, 50 requests per collection, CLI	Starter $3 a month (yearly, 1 user)	Testing inside VS Code
Postman (for reference)	1 user, 100 AI credits, API client, mocks, Native Git	Solo $9 a month, Team $19 per user (yearly)	Full API lifecycle

1. Bruno: best for keeping collections in Git

Bruno stores every request as a plain text file in your repository, so collections are reviewed, branched and merged like code instead of synced to a vendor cloud. The open source app covers HTTP, REST, GraphQL and gRPC, scripting, tests and an unlimited collection runner. Pro at $6 per user a month billed yearly adds deeper Git features such as push, branches and merge conflict resolution, plus data-driven tests. Ultimate is $11 and Enterprise $18, and there is a 14-day Ultimate trial.

2. Hoppscotch: best free browser client

Hoppscotch runs in the browser with no install, and you can self-host it from GitHub. The Free plan is free forever and already includes REST, GraphQL and realtime testing, collections, environments, pre-request scripts, tests and a collection runner. Business at $6 per user a month billed yearly adds team workspaces, shared collections, published docs, API mocking and MCP server support. Enterprise is $11 with SSO and SCIM.

3. Insomnia: best for gRPC, WebSockets and mocks

Insomnia, from Kong, supports REST, gRPC, GraphQL, SOAP, WebSocket, Socket.IO and SSE in one client. Its free Essentials plan is unusually generous for teams: unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users, unlimited collection runs and environments, end-to-end encryption, the Inso CLI for CI/CD and 1,000 mock server requests a month. Pro, listed from $12 per user a month, removes the 3-user limit and adds role-based access. There is also a local-only Scratch Pad if you do not want to log in.

4. Thunder Client: best inside VS Code

Thunder Client is an extension for VS Code and JetBrains that also works in Cursor, Antigravity, Kiro and Devin. The free plan includes the extension, CLI and CI/CD, WebSocket, SSE and gRPC, and an MCP server, but caps you at 10 collections with 50 requests each. Starter is $3 a month for one user, and Business is $7 per user a month billed yearly with Git Sync and user management.

What a team of five pays

Billed yearly, a five-person team pays $95 a month on Postman Team, $30 on Bruno Pro or Hoppscotch Business, $35 on Thunder Client Business and about $60 on Insomnia Pro at its listed $12 per seat. A three-person team can stay on Insomnia Essentials for $0. That gap is the main reason teams switch, not missing features.

When to stay on Postman

Stay if you use Postman as a platform rather than a client: published API documentation, monitors, the Private API Network, API governance or partner workspaces. None of the lighter tools replace that stack. If you are also rethinking your local dev setup, see our guide to Docker alternatives, and for AI help writing and testing API code, compare the best free AI for coding and our list of AI agents for coding.

Frequently asked questions