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, 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 tools worth using as of October 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.

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.

The best REST client tools in 2026

Prices and limits below are from each vendor's pricing page as of October 2026.

Tool	Type	Free tier	Paid from	Where data lives
Postman	Desktop + web app	1 user, unlimited collection runs	$9/mo (Solo), $19/user/mo (Team)	Postman cloud
Insomnia	Desktop app	Essentials: Git Sync for up to 3 users, local and cloud projects	$12/user/mo (Pro)	Local, Git, or cloud
Bruno	Desktop app, open source	Open Source edition, unlimited runs	$6/user/mo (Pro)	Plain-text files in your repo
Hoppscotch	Web app, PWA, desktop, open source	Free forever plan, self-hostable	$6/user/mo (Business)	Cloud or self-hosted
VS Code REST Client	Editor extension	Free	none	.http files in your repo
curl / HTTPie CLI	Command line	Free	none	Your shell history and scripts

Postman

The most complete option: collections, environments, pre-request and test scripts, mock servers, monitors, API documentation, and a large public API network. The catch: as of October 2026 the Free plan is limited to one user, so any team sharing collections needs the Team plan. 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, and WebSockets. You choose where each project is stored: local only, Git Sync, or Insomnia's cloud. Using the free Scratch Pad needs no login; the Essentials plan requires an account. Good fit for small teams (Git Sync is free for up to three users). 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. The open-source edition covers HTTP, REST, GraphQL, and gRPC requests and an unlimited collection runner; paid tiers add things like more workspaces and private Git providers. It can import 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. It supports REST, GraphQL, and realtime protocols (WebSocket, SSE, MQTT), has collections, environments, and scripts on the free plan, and can be self-hosted. The one gotcha with a web client: requests to localhost or private networks need its browser extension, proxy, or desktop app, because browsers block those calls by CORS rules.

VS Code REST Client (and the JetBrains HTTP Client)

The REST Client extension by Huachao Mao (7.6 million installs, version 0.25.1) lets you write requests in a .http or .rest file and click "Send Request" above each one. 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.

What happened to Paw?

Paw, the Mac-native client, became RapidAPI for Mac in 2022 and is now owned by Nokia. Its site states that macOS 27 and later will not be tested or officially supported. It still runs on supported macOS versions, but don't start a new project on it.

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).
• 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) or a self-hosted Hoppscotch.

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.

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.

RestClient client = RestClient.create();

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

The same idea exists in every language: requests or httpx in Python, fetch in JavaScript, net/http in Go.

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. Postman and Insomnia have free plans with limits (Postman's is one user as of October 2026).

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.