What Is a REST Client? The Best REST Clients in 2026

A REST client is any program that sends HTTP requests (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE) to a REST API and shows or parses the response. In day-to-day work the term means two things: a tool you use by hand to try and debug APIs (Postman, Insomnia, Bruno, Hoppscotch, Yaak, Thunder Client, the VS Code REST Client extension, curl), and a library your code uses to call APIs (fetch in JavaScript, requests in Python, Spring's RestClient in Java). This guide covers both, then compares the best REST clients as of November 2026, with prices taken from each vendor's pricing page and GitHub numbers pulled on November 4, 2026. This page was first published in 2023; everything below has been re-checked for 2026.

What a REST client actually does

Every REST client, GUI or library, does the same five things:

1. Builds a request: method, URL, query parameters, headers, and an optional body (usually JSON).
2. Handles auth: an API key header, a Bearer token, Basic auth, or an OAuth 2.0 flow.
3. Sends it over HTTP(S) and waits for the response.
4. Shows or returns the status code, headers, and body.
5. Lets you reuse it: saved requests, variables and environments (dev, staging, prod), and often scripted tests.

The REST API is the server; the REST client is the caller. A browser is technically an HTTP client too, but it only makes GET requests from the address bar, which is why developers use a dedicated client to send a POST with a JSON body or a custom Authorization header.

REST client vs HTTP client

Any REST HTTP client is an HTTP client first. "HTTP client" is the general term for anything that speaks HTTP; "REST client" just means you are pointing it at a REST API, where resources live at URLs and you act on them with standard methods and status codes. In practice the words are used interchangeably: curl, fetch and Postman are all HTTP clients that people call REST clients. A RESTful client (or RESTful API client) is the same thing again, named after the "RESTful" adjective for APIs that follow REST conventions.

The difference only matters in code. A low-level HTTP client (fetch, Java's HttpClient, Go's net/http) hands you bytes and headers. A higher-level REST client API (Spring's RestClient, Quarkus REST Client, Retrofit on Android) maps JSON to typed objects, builds URLs from templates, and turns 4xx/5xx responses into exceptions.

What a GUI REST client application adds on top of curl

A REST client application such as Postman or Bruno is, as one popular Reddit answer puts it, a UI that sits on top of the same HTTP calls curl makes. What you get for the extra install:

• Collections: requests grouped by API or feature, with folders and descriptions.
• Environments and variables: {{baseUrl}} and {{token}} swapped per environment, with secrets kept out of shared files.
• Auth helpers: OAuth 2.0 flows, AWS Signature, digest auth, client certificates, without hand-building headers.
• Scripts and tests: run JavaScript before a request (sign it, fetch a token) and after it (assert the status code, save a value for the next request).
• A collection runner and CLI: run the whole collection in CI and fail the build when a test fails.
• Code generation: copy any request as curl, fetch, Python requests and others.
• Other protocols: most modern clients also speak GraphQL, and many speak gRPC, WebSocket and Server-Sent Events, the common REST alternatives.

A REST client example in 30 seconds

The smallest REST client is already on your machine. With curl:

curl -X POST https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "hello", "body": "first post", "userId": 1}'

The same request with HTTPie, which builds the JSON for you (= for strings, := for raw JSON values):

http POST jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts title=hello body="first post" userId:=1

And from code, in JavaScript:

const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ title: 'hello', body: 'first post', userId: 1 }),
});
console.log(res.status, await res.json()); // 201 { id: 101, ... }

JSONPlaceholder is a free fake API that is handy for exactly this; we cover it in our JSONPlaceholder guide. If you have a curl command from someone's docs and want it in another language, paste it into DevHunt's curl converter; to read a long response, drop it into the JSON formatter.

The best REST client tools in 2026

Prices and limits below are from each vendor's pricing page as of November 2026. Per-user prices are billed annually unless noted.

Postman

The most complete option: collections, environments, pre-request and test scripts, mock servers, monitors, API documentation, a public API network, and a CLI for CI. Postman says it is used by over 50 million developers and 500,000 companies (postman.com).

The catch is the pricing structure. As of November 2026 the Free plan is limited to one user, so any team sharing collections needs the Team plan at $19 per user per month, billed annually. Solo is $9/month billed annually for one person who wants higher limits. Free includes 1,000 API monitoring requests and 10,000 Postman API calls per month, and only one day of collection recovery (Postman pricing). AI features run on credits, with pay-as-you-go overage on paid plans.

A test script, run after each response, looks like this:

pm.test('status is 201', () => {
  pm.response.to.have.status(201);
});
pm.collectionVariables.set('postId', pm.response.json().id);

In CI, the Postman CLI runs a collection with an environment and writes a JUnit report: postman collection run <collection> -e <env-file-or-UID> -r junit (Postman CLI docs). The docs note that for collections in the newer v3 YAML format, only the cli reporter is supported, so check before you wire JUnit into a pipeline.

Pick Postman if your company already standardizes on it or you need its monitoring and governance features. We have a Postman beginner guide, and if the price is the problem, see free Postman alternatives.

Insomnia

Kong's Insomnia has a cleaner UI than Postman and strong support for REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets and SSE. You choose where each project is stored: local only, Git Sync, or Insomnia's cloud (Kong/insomnia, Apache-2.0, 40,121 stars). Using the free Scratch Pad needs no login; the Essentials plan requires an account.

As of November 2026, Essentials is free with Git Sync for up to three users, unlimited collection runs and 1,000 mock requests per month (then $10 per 25,000). Pro is $12 per user per month and opens Git Sync and RBAC to everyone; Enterprise is $45 per user per month, self-serve up to 50 users, and adds SSO, SCIM and vault integrations (Insomnia pricing). Access to the Inso CLI for CI/CD is included on every plan, Essentials too.

Good fit for small teams that want a polished GUI without Postman's per-seat jump. Tips in our Insomnia best practices post.

Bruno

Bruno stores every request as a plain-text file in a folder you choose, so collections live in your Git repo next to the code and get reviewed in pull requests. It is offline-first and needs no account; its README says there are no plans to ever add cloud sync. Older collections use Bruno's own .bru markup; newer ones can use YAML in the OpenCollection format (a collection root has either bruno.json or opencollection.yml). The latest release is v4.3.0 (October 22, 2026), and the repo has 48,122 stars under the MIT license.

The open-source edition covers HTTP, REST, GraphQL and gRPC requests, two workspaces, public Git providers, five OpenAPI syncs a month and an unlimited collection runner. Pro ($6 per user per month, billed annually) adds private Git providers and unlimited workspaces; Ultimate ($11) adds PO invoicing, a 24-hour support SLA and a dedicated account manager (Bruno pricing).

Tests are JavaScript with Chai's expect:

test('status is 201', function () {
  expect(res.getStatus()).to.equal(201);
});

And the CLI runs a collection in CI from its root folder (Bruno CLI docs):

npm install -g @usebruno/cli
bru run --env ci --reporter-junit results.xml

Since Bruno CLI v3.0.0 scripts run in Safe Mode by default; pass --sandbox=developer if your scripts need npm packages or filesystem access. Bruno imports Postman collections. Pick it if you dislike syncing API specs through a vendor cloud. Side-by-side details: Bruno vs Postman.

Hoppscotch

Open-source and browser-first: open hoppscotch.io and send a request with no install, which makes it the best online REST client for quick checks. It supports REST, GraphQL, and realtime protocols (WebSocket, SSE, MQTT), has collections, environments, pre-request scripts, tests and a collection runner on the free plan, and can be self-hosted. With 80,747 GitHub stars it is the most-starred open source REST client by a wide margin; the latest release is 2026.10.0 (October 30, 2026).

Business is $6 per user per month (team workspaces, shared collections, API docs publishing, mocking, an MCP server) and Enterprise is $11 (SSO, SCIM, audit logs) (Hoppscotch pricing). The CLI runs saved collections in CI:

npm i -g @hoppscotch/cli
hopp test -e environment.json my-collection.json

The one gotcha with a browser REST client: requests to localhost or private networks need its browser extension, proxy, or desktop app, because browsers block those calls by CORS rules.

Yaak

Yaak is a newer desktop REST client from Greg Schier, who created Insomnia and sold it in 2019 (yaak.app). It handles REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket and Server-Sent Events, and stores one YAML file per request, folder and environment, with a built-in Git UI for branching, committing and diffing, plus optional encryption for shared secrets. Nothing syncs to a vendor cloud.

Licensing is the thing to read: the source is MIT, but the prebuilt app is free only for personal use. Work use needs a license after a 30-day trial: $79 per year (Individual, with a lifetime fallback license), $349 one time, or $149 per user per year (Business) (Yaak pricing). The repo has 19,433 stars and ships often (v2026.9.1 on November 1, 2026). Pick it if you liked early Insomnia and want a fast, local, Git-friendly app with a clear license.

Thunder Client

Thunder Client is a GUI REST client that lives in the VS Code sidebar, with 7,685,601 installs on the Marketplace. Data is stored locally on your machine. The free plan allows commercial use but caps you at 10 collections, 50 requests per collection, 5 imports a month and 50 local collection runs per user (CI runs are unlimited); Git sync starts on the paid plans: Starter $3, Business $7, Enterprise $16 per user per month, billed annually (Thunder Client pricing).

Pick it if you want a Postman-style form inside the editor. If you prefer plain text, the REST Client extension below is free with no caps.

VS Code REST Client (and the JetBrains HTTP Client)

The REST Client extension by Huachao Mao (7,724,322 installs, version 0.25.1) lets you write requests in a .http or .rest file and click "Send Request" above each one. If you were looking for the REST Client official website, that Marketplace page and its GitHub repo are it. No GUI, no account, and the file is committed with your code:

@host = https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com

### Get one post
GET {{host}}/posts/1

### Create a post
# @name createPost
POST {{host}}/posts
Content-Type: application/json

{ "title": "hello", "userId": 1 }

### Use the response of the previous request
GET {{host}}/posts/{{createPost.response.body.$.id}}

### separates requests, @name = value defines a file variable, and # @name lets later requests read a response with JSONPath. JetBrains IDEs have a built-in HTTP Client that uses the same .http format and ### separator, so these files mostly work in both.

Visual Studio .http files (the REST client for Windows .NET developers)

Visual Studio 2022 has its own .http editor, inspired by the VS Code extension, and it needs version 17.8 or later with the ASP.NET and web development workload (Microsoft Learn). It reads .rest files too, picks environments from an http-client.env.json file, keeps personal values in http-client.env.json.user, and can pull secrets from ASP.NET user secrets, Azure Key Vault or Windows DPAPI. Endpoints Explorer (View, Other Windows) lists your API's endpoints and generates a request for any of them.

It does not support everything the VS Code extension does: no GraphQL requests, no cURL import or copy-as-cURL, no request history and no prompt variables. For a .NET developer on Windows who lives in Visual Studio, it is still the zero-install option.

curl and HTTPie

curl is on macOS, most Linux distributions and Windows 10/11 out of the box, and it is still actively released (curl 8.23.0 shipped October 14, 2026, per curl/curl on GitHub). It is the format most API docs use for examples, and most GUI clients can import a curl command or copy a request as one.

HTTPie (38,695 stars, BSD-3-Clause) is friendlier for humans: colored output, JSON by default, and the key=value syntax shown earlier. Note that the CLI's latest release is 3.2.4 from November 2024, so it is stable but quiet. HTTPie also has a web and desktop app.

Other REST clients worth knowing

• RESTED: a small open source (GPL-3.0) browser REST client, available as a Firefox add-on. The RESTED client is fine for a quick request from a toolbar, but the repo has not had a commit since November 2024.
• SoapUI: SmartBear's open source tool for SOAP and REST testing (v5.10.0, June 2026). Choose it if you still maintain SOAP/WSDL services.
• REST Assured: a Java library (Apache-2.0) for writing API tests as code in JUnit or TestNG, rather than a GUI client.
• Swagger UI: renders an OpenAPI spec with a "Try it out" button per endpoint, so it works as a REST client for an API you are documenting. See our REST API documentation best practices.

What happened to Paw?

Paw, the Mac-native client, became RapidAPI for Mac in 2022 and is now owned by Nokia. As of November 2026 its site says it continues to run on currently supported macOS versions, but upcoming releases such as macOS 27 will not be tested, certified or officially supported (paw.cloud). Don't start a new project on it; Yaak and Bruno are the closest native-feeling replacements on Mac.

Recent releases at a glance

1. 2019Greg Schier sells Insomnia to Kong; he later starts Yaak (yaak.app).
2. 2022Paw becomes RapidAPI for Mac, now owned by Nokia.
3. Nov 2024HTTPie CLI 3.2.4, its latest release so far.
4. Jul 23, 2026Bruno v4.0.0 (releases).
5. Oct 14, 2026curl 8.23.0.
6. Oct 22, 2026Bruno v4.3.0.
7. Oct 29, 2026Insomnia 13.4.0 (releases).
8. Oct 30, 2026Hoppscotch 2026.10.0.
9. Nov 1, 2026Yaak 2026.9.1.
10. Nov 3, 2026Thunder Client 3.2.0.

Feature comparison: which REST client does what

Sources: Postman request docs, Insomnia repo, Bruno docs, Hoppscotch repo, Yaak, Thunder Client docs, and each vendor's pricing page, as of November 2026.

How to choose

• Solo developer, quick checks: curl or HTTPie, or Hoppscotch in a browser tab.
• Requests should live in the repo: Bruno or .http files (VS Code REST Client or JetBrains HTTP Client). Yaak if you want a polished desktop app and can pay for a work license.
• Team needs shared environments, mocks, monitors: Postman Team or Insomnia Pro. Compare the per-user price against how many people really need seats.
• Locked-down company network: a desktop app that works offline (Bruno, Insomnia local projects, Yaak) or a self-hosted Hoppscotch.
• You live in VS Code: Thunder Client for a GUI, the REST Client extension for plain text.
• .NET on Windows: Visual Studio's built-in .http editor.

Whatever you pick, keep secrets out of shared collections: store tokens in environment variables marked secret (or a local .env that is git-ignored), not in request headers you commit.

Moving from Postman to another client

Most switches go fine if you do them in this order:

1. Export each collection from Postman as Collection v2.1 JSON, and export environments separately (they are separate files).
2. Import into the new tool. Bruno imports Postman collections directly, Thunder Client has a Postman converter, and most other clients accept Postman's v2.1 format; check the import page of the tool you pick.
3. Re-check auth. OAuth 2.0 settings and inherited auth on folders are the most common things that don't map one to one.
4. Port scripts. pm.* calls need rewriting for Bruno's res/bru API or Insomnia's scripting API. Simple status and JSON assertions are quick; heavy pm.sendRequest chains take longer.
5. Move secrets last. Don't commit them to the new Git-based collection; use the tool's secret variables or a git-ignored .env.
6. Wire the CLI into CI and delete the old Postman monitor only after the new run is green for a week.

Troubleshooting common REST client problems

Need to look up what a status code means? DevHunt's HTTP status codes reference lists them all, and the JWT decoder shows what is inside a Bearer token without sending it anywhere.

REST client in code: RestClient vs RestTemplate vs WebClient

If you searched "RestClient" as a Java class, you mean Spring. As of Spring Framework 7.0, RestTemplate is deprecated in favor of RestClient and will be removed in a future version.

• RestClient (since Spring Framework 6.1 / Spring Boot 3.2): synchronous, fluent API. The default choice for new blocking code.
• WebClient: non-blocking and reactive, for async calls, streaming, and high concurrency.
• RestTemplate: the old template-style API. Migrate off it.
• HTTP Service Clients: a Java interface with @HttpExchange methods, turned into a client by HttpServiceProxyFactory on top of any of the three.

RestClient client = RestClient.create();

String body = client.get()
    .uri("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1")
    .retrieve()
    .body(String.class);

The interface style, from the Spring docs:

public interface RepositoryService {
  @GetExchange("/repos/{owner}/{repo}")
  Repository getRepository(@PathVariable String owner, @PathVariable String repo);
}

RestClient restClient = RestClient.create("https://api.github.com");
HttpServiceProxyFactory factory =
    HttpServiceProxyFactory.builderFor(RestClientAdapter.create(restClient)).build();
RepositoryService service = factory.createClient(RepositoryService.class);

Quarkus REST Client

Quarkus has the same idea under the name REST Client. Add the quarkus-rest-client-jackson extension (quarkus extension add rest-client-jackson), annotate an interface with @RegisterRestClient, inject it with @RestClient, and set its base URL in config (Quarkus guide):

@Path("/extensions")
@RegisterRestClient(configKey = "extensions-api")
public interface ExtensionsService {
    @GET
    Set<Extension> getById(@QueryParam("id") String id);
}

quarkus.rest-client.extensions-api.url=https://stage.code.quarkus.io/api

Other languages

The same idea exists in every language: requests (54,603 GitHub stars) or httpx in Python, fetch in JavaScript, net/http in Go, Retrofit or Ktor on Android.

import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts",
    json={"title": "hello", "userId": 1},
    timeout=10,
)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.status_code, r.json()["id"])

For a step-by-step walkthrough of calling an API from scratch, see calling an API in 5 steps, and for picking a broader platform (design, docs, mocking, gateways), choosing an API development platform. More tools are in DevHunt's API tools and testing tools categories.

FAQ

What is a REST client in API terms?

It is the caller in a REST exchange: the program that sends HTTP requests to an API's endpoints and handles the responses. The API (server) exposes resources at URLs; the client reads and changes them with HTTP methods.

What is the difference between a REST client and a REST API?

The REST API is the server-side interface (endpoints, rules, data). The REST client is anything that talks to it: a testing tool like Postman, a mobile app, a backend service, or a single curl command.

Is there a free REST client?

Yes. curl and HTTPie CLI, Bruno's open-source edition, Hoppscotch's free plan, and the VS Code REST Client extension are all free, including for commercial use. Postman, Insomnia and Thunder Client have free plans with limits (Postman's is one user as of November 2026), and Yaak is free for personal use only.

Which REST client should I download?

For most developers in 2026: Bruno if you want requests versioned in Git, Postman if your team already uses its cloud workspaces, and the VS Code extension if you never want to leave the editor.

Is a browser a REST client?

Partly. Typing a URL sends a GET request, and the browser's DevTools Network panel shows the response. For other methods, custom headers, or JSON bodies you need fetch in the console or a dedicated client.

What is the best open source REST client?

Bruno and Hoppscotch. Bruno (MIT) is a desktop app that stores collections as files in Git; Hoppscotch (MIT) runs in the browser and can be self-hosted. Insomnia (Apache-2.0) is also open source, with paid cloud and team features.

What is the best online REST client?

Hoppscotch at hoppscotch.io: no install, no account for basic use, REST plus GraphQL and realtime protocols. For localhost APIs, install its browser extension or desktop app.

What is the best Windows REST client?

All the main desktop apps (Postman, Insomnia, Bruno, Yaak) run on Windows, macOS and Linux, and curl ships with Windows 10 and 11. If you write .NET in Visual Studio, its built-in .http editor is the zero-install REST client (Windows, Visual Studio 2022 17.8+).

What is a RESTful client?

The same thing as a REST client: a program that calls a RESTful API using HTTP methods on resource URLs. The word "RESTful" just describes APIs that follow REST conventions.

What are the alternatives to REST, and do REST clients support them?

The common REST alternatives are GraphQL (one endpoint, client picks the fields), gRPC (binary Protocol Buffers over HTTP/2), and realtime protocols such as WebSocket and Server-Sent Events. Postman, Insomnia and Yaak handle GraphQL, gRPC and WebSocket; Bruno does GraphQL and gRPC; Hoppscotch covers GraphQL, WebSocket, SSE and MQTT.

Is Postman still free?

Yes, for one person. As of November 2026 Postman's Free plan is limited to one user; sharing collections with a team needs the Team plan ($19 per user per month, billed annually) or a different tool.