Postman
API development and testing platform.
why this verdict
Keep paying — Anthropic has not replaced it
Anthropic's version overlaps, but does not finish the dev tools job, so this one still earns its $14/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Agents calling APIs directly via MCP. Anthropic, November 25, 2024 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Insomnia, Bruno and Hoppscotch.
- What the call is worth $168/yr
- $14/mo at the entry paid tier — $168 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- Anthropic
- Since
- November 25, 2024
- List price
- $14/mo
- Per year
- $168
The backstory
Postman is where developers build, test and document APIs, with shared collections, environments, mocks and team governance. AI agents can call endpoints directly via MCP, but that doesn't replace the human-and-team side: organizing requests, managing secrets across environments, mocking services and enforcing standards across an org. Those are collaboration and governance problems. It survived because teams still need the collection, the shared workspace and the controls around API work, not just the ability to hit a URL.
Escape hatches
Open-source API client and testing
insomnia.rest open_in_newOffline, git-friendly API client
usebruno.com open_in_newFree open-source API testing in browser
hoppscotch.io open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.
