API Developers

bruno

Bruno has become the darling of the developer community in 2026 by challenging the cloud-first status quo. It stores your API collections as plain text files directly in your file system using the Bru markup language, allowing you to version control them alongside your code using Git. It is offline-only, privacy-focused, and completely free of cloud bloat. Unlike Postman, which requires signing into an account and syncing to proprietary servers, Bruno keeps everything local. This makes it ideal for teams that operate in air-gapped environments or simply want their API documentation to live in the same repository as their source code. Bruno also supports environment variables, scripting via JavaScript, and collection-wide authentication settings, covering the vast majority of workflows that previously required Postman.

postman

Despite the competition from lightweight alternatives, Postman remains the undisputed king of full-lifecycle API management for enterprise teams. In 2026, its new AI-native capabilities for generating tests and documentation make it indispensable for large organizations. The Postbot AI assistant can automatically generate test suites from your request history, create human-readable API documentation from your collection, and even suggest missing test cases based on your endpoint structure. It replaces the need for separate documentation sites and mock servers by bundling them into one robust platform. The collaboration features, including team workspaces, role-based access control, and version history, are unmatched for organizations managing hundreds of endpoints across multiple teams.

tableplus

TablePlus is the gold standard for macOS database clients and the reason most Mac developers never open a terminal for database work. Unlike sluggish Java-based alternatives, it is a fully native application that launches instantly and renders large result sets without lag. It supports almost every database engine in production use today—PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Redis, MongoDB, CockroachDB, and more—through a clean, modern UI. The 'Safe Mode' feature is legendary among DevOps teams: it requires explicit confirmation before executing any destructive query on a production database, preventing the dreaded accidental DELETE or DROP TABLE. TablePlus also supports SSH tunneling, multiple tabs, and inline data editing with a comfortable spreadsheet-like interface.

hoppscotch

Originally a web-only tool, Hoppscotch's desktop app is a lightweight, open-source powerhouse built with Tauri and Rust, making it significantly faster and more memory-efficient than Electron-based rivals like Postman and Insomnia. It launches in under a second on Apple Silicon and uses a fraction of the RAM. It is perfect for developers who need a quick, no-nonsense interface for REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, SSE, and Socket.IO testing without the heavy resource footprint of a full API platform. The interface is clean and focused, with excellent keyboard shortcut support for power users who want to fire off requests rapidly.