Introduction

If you are testing the backend you need some tools, because you don't see what are you testing. These are tools you can use during testing API. I guess one of the best tools for API testing is Postman. But today we will consider the best alternative to this popular tool. Especially likes those who work with Postman all the time.

Postman

First, I'd like to describe the best features of Postman. Creating collections and it's running in automation mode through Newman.

Saving different environments and quick switching between them during backend testing on various stands. Sharing your collections and environment with your team members.

Support working on all platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux). Integration with CI/CD pipelines. The question is, do you think it possible to support all those functions for free? Of course not. And Postman has some functions only in the paid version.

But what about open source similar projects? Maybe they are also good. I'll try to discuss one of them.

Hoppscotch

Hoppscotch is a lightweight, web-based API development suite. It was built from the ground up with ease of use and accessibility in mind providing all the functionality needed for API developers with minimalist, unobtrusive UI. It is free to use and as an added perk completely Open Source.

Look at that.

I guess there is only one difference from Postman. Hoppscotch is web-based and does not require installation on the machine. All others are the same, including the interface. But if you will try to use it some restrictions could be found.

For instance, working with your created data is not possible simultaneously as a whole team. It presents but does not work. And contributors of Hoppscotch said that they won't supply it. I'm not accusing developers of Hoppscotch because I think not too easy to realize these features. You need to supply some cloud servers for it. And it costs a lot of money.

Let's try to use this option step by step. You open a web-based version and start to work. You are creating some API requests, combining them in the collections, and saving some different environments. After that, you are deciding to save it all and share it with your team member.

First of all, you must create your account and there are a few options. One of them is email.

And that brings us to the magic part of Hoppscotch because you need every time to use the magic link from an email. Sometimes emails come into the spam folder. But in the end, you can't work with this feature because there is no team in your account.

Decision

If you hear about open source projects try to think about who will pay for them. If it's totally free most reasonable that this product will no such good as paid competitors.