3 self-hosted options
Open-source alternatives to Postman
The best open-source alternatives to Postman are Hoppscotch Community Edition, Bruno and Kong.
About Postman: An API platform for designing, testing and documenting HTTP APIs.
Every option below is free to self-host and ranked by GitHub stars, so you can move off Postman without giving up the features you rely on.
Top picks
- Rank 1:
Hoppscotch Community Edition
hoppscotch/hoppscotch
Fast and beautiful API request builder.
API ManagementTypeScriptDocker - Rank 2:
Bruno
usebruno/bruno
Fast, git-friendly open-source API client, an alternative to Postman.
API ManagementJavaScript - Rank 3:
Kong
Kong/kong
Microservice API Gateway and Platform.
API ManagementLuaDocker
Why switch
Why teams move off Postman
Self-hosting is not only about saving money. These are the reasons people make the switch.
Own your data
Your data lives on a server you control, not on Postman's infrastructure. No surprise policy changes and no lock-in.
No per-seat pricing
Open-source alternatives to Postman are free to run for as many users as your server can handle. A small VPS often costs less than a single subscription.
Customize and extend
Read the code, add plugins, connect it to your own tools and automate it through open APIs. When you need a feature, you can build it or fund it.
Full ranking
All 3 Postman alternatives
Ranked by GitHub stars. Open any app for live stats, license details and a deploy option.
What is the best open-source alternative to Postman?
Hoppscotch Community Edition is the most popular open-source alternative to Postman, with 80,572 GitHub stars. Bruno and Kong are also strong choices. Compare features, license and recent activity to find the best fit for your team.
Is there a free alternative to Postman?
Yes. All 3 apps on this page are open source and free to self-host, so you can run a Postman replacement without per-user fees. You only pay for the server, and a small VPS is usually enough for personal use or a small team.
Can I self-host an alternative to Postman?
Yes. Hoppscotch Community Edition and Kong ship a Docker image, so you can run them on a home server or VPS with Docker Compose in a few minutes. Your data then stays on hardware you control.
How do I migrate from Postman?
Start by exporting your data from Postman, then check the import options of the app you pick, since many projects ship importers for popular formats. Run both side by side for a week before you switch so nothing is lost.