28 votes

Is there a postman alternative without the bloat?

Posted by b3_k1nd_rw1nd (edited )
Tags: ask.recommendations, software, postman

use postman quite a bit at work as a backend developer and the recent updates have added alot more bloatware to the program.

All I want is a simple program that does HTTP requests and not get account promo and collections and their cloud stuff shoved down my throat.

And my work computer is maintained by a central system so I can't freeze my Postman application at a past level, it auto-updates.

So I am wondering if there is a good alternative that just does HTTP requests and nothing else?

20 comments

  1. [4]
    theavi
    Link
    I just have to post this here, and not just for comedic purposes: https://justuse.org/curl/

    I just have to post this here, and not just for comedic purposes:

    https://justuse.org/curl/

    25 votes
    1. vord
      Link Parent
      While I do love tools like Ansible and git CI/CD scripts, there are far more use cases suited to a simple Makefile or shell script. And those don't require you to deal with YAML.

      While I do love tools like Ansible and git CI/CD scripts, there are far more use cases suited to a simple Makefile or shell script.

      And those don't require you to deal with YAML.

      2 votes
    2. [2]
      davek804
      Link Parent
      I feel like there's two types of people in the world: those that know curl and a terminal can do the job, and those that want the UI.

      I feel like there's two types of people in the world: those that know curl and a terminal can do the job, and those that want the UI.

      2 votes
      1. DeaconBlue
        Link Parent
        And those of us in the former working on a team full of the latter. There is value in keeping one tool standard and I just accept that I am losing this one.

        And those of us in the former working on a team full of the latter. There is value in keeping one tool standard and I just accept that I am losing this one.

        6 votes
  2. [7]
    HunterRobot
    Link
    Personally I have been using Bruno, which is almost exactly Postman without al the collaboration or cloud stuff. If you want to share with your team the collection files can simply be shared.

    Personally I have been using Bruno, which is almost exactly Postman without al the collaboration or cloud stuff. If you want to share with your team the collection files can simply be shared.

    22 votes
    1. [3]
      b3_k1nd_rw1nd
      Link Parent
      if this page is not bullshitting me, thank you brother. seems to be exactly what I wanted.

      if this page is not bullshitting me, thank you brother. seems to be exactly what I wanted.

      7 votes
      1. [2]
        creesch
        Link Parent
        I've also switched to Bruno. If you have some postman collections you want to reuse Bruno claims to be able to import them. You can also export your Bruno collections to Postman format making it...

        I've also switched to Bruno. If you have some postman collections you want to reuse Bruno claims to be able to import them. You can also export your Bruno collections to Postman format making it easier to share them with people who still use that.

        2 votes
        1. hobbes64
          Link Parent
          I can confirm that it can import postman collections. It saves them in its own format which is a separate file for each request rather than one file for a collection. At least with my collections,...

          I can confirm that it can import postman collections. It saves them in its own format which is a separate file for each request rather than one file for a collection.
          At least with my collections, it’s unable to concert the “test” portion JavaScript. Those have to be manually converted because postman has a different test object interface for JavaScript. This is mostly if you’ve written JavaScript code to compare things in the response JSON. Bruno mostly uses assertions in a different syntax.
          I like Bruno a lot but the documentation for this is lacking.

          1 vote
    2. [2]
      kaffo
      Link Parent
      I also switched to Bruno and really like it. The only thing it is missing is pre/post run scripts, but it's not a huge deal. I'd say my biggest issue with it, which is really petty, is the name....

      I also switched to Bruno and really like it. The only thing it is missing is pre/post run scripts, but it's not a huge deal.

      I'd say my biggest issue with it, which is really petty, is the name. Especially when you know someone called Bruno. It gets very confusing!

      2 votes
      1. balooga
        Link Parent
        Shhh, we don’t talk about Bruno.

        Shhh, we don’t talk about Bruno.

        1 vote
    3. VoidSage
      Link Parent
      Me too! I switched to Bruno about 6 months ago. It fixes all of the problems I’ve been complaining about with postman for years. A free, open source, git native rest client is everything I’ve ever...

      Me too!

      I switched to Bruno about 6 months ago. It fixes all of the problems I’ve been complaining about with postman for years. A free, open source, git native rest client is everything I’ve ever wanted

      2 votes
  3. [2]
    0xSim
    Link
    When Postman began its enshittification path, Insomnia became popular. Then its creator sold it, it became enshittified, and now the same guy is making https://yaak.app Personally I also like...

    When Postman began its enshittification path, Insomnia became popular. Then its creator sold it, it became enshittified, and now the same guy is making https://yaak.app

    Personally I also like Bruno. At work we're "forced" to use Postman, but we're often using .http files in the projects.

    8 votes
    1. dsh
      Link Parent
      A developer on my team was showing off Yaak the other day - it looks like it has a tonne of promise for workflows like - make request to auth, use token for further requests, etc.

      A developer on my team was showing off Yaak the other day - it looks like it has a tonne of promise for workflows like - make request to auth, use token for further requests, etc.

  4. jackson
    Link
    HTTPie has worked well for me in the past, but I haven't used it recently. I just booted it up and updated and there were no nags/account prompts that came up.

    HTTPie has worked well for me in the past, but I haven't used it recently. I just booted it up and updated and there were no nags/account prompts that came up.

    3 votes
  5. Toric
    Link
    Im not a webdev, so I rarely use it, but hurl is a part of my toolkit.

    Im not a webdev, so I rarely use it, but hurl is a part of my toolkit.

    3 votes
  6. [2]
    fleg
    Link
    https://posting.sh/ looks promising, but I have yet to use it. It stores all the data in text files which then can be shared eg. via git.

    https://posting.sh/ looks promising, but I have yet to use it. It stores all the data in text files which then can be shared eg. via git.

    2 votes
    1. ShroudedScribe
      Link Parent
      I've used this one at a basic level and am happy with it. It's a Textual app, meaning it both has mouse support and can be run in a web browser. So worth a shot even if you don't live in a terminal.

      I've used this one at a basic level and am happy with it. It's a Textual app, meaning it both has mouse support and can be run in a web browser. So worth a shot even if you don't live in a terminal.

      1 vote
  8. trim
    Link
    When postman went down the pan, I started building a library of Hurl scripts. That’s suited me fine and is great for test automation. https://hurl.dev/

    When postman went down the pan, I started building a library of Hurl scripts. That’s suited me fine and is great for test automation.

    https://hurl.dev/

    1 vote