Send API requests, inspect responses and organise request collections.
Free and open source (MIT licence per GitHub). Web, desktop and CLI clients, with cloud, offline and self-hosted routes.
Developer tools
HTTPie
Free optionOpen sourceLocal
Send HTTP requests and inspect API responses from the terminal.
What you can use it for
Send HTTP requests and inspect API responses from the terminal.
- Covers the core everyday task of Postman and Insomnia: building and sending API requests, from the terminal.
- POST with JSON body to httpbin.org returned the expected payload {'n': 3, 'name': 'J'}; very readable syntax. Developers list it among the tools they rely on for readable request lines.
Workflow coverage and comparison notes
Build and send API requests with human-readable syntax from the terminal instead of a paid Postman or Insomnia plan. Shared team collections, monitors, mock servers and GUI collaboration are outside this slice.
Before you switch
CLI-first: no Postman-style shared cloud workspace — collections live in shell sessions, files and CI rather than a team UI, and monitors, mock servers and GUI collaboration are outside this free CLI. Command history can hold credentials if you are not careful.
Alternatives to these paid apps
Each comparison covers the workflow described above, rather than every paid feature.
More for the same workflow
See alternatives →
InsomniaSend API requests, organise collections and run them locally.
Free Essentials · unlimited projects and collection runs · Git sync up to 3 users
REST Client for VS CodeSend HTTP requests from version-controlled files inside VS Code.
Free extension · local request files · no request quota