Pick the API Testing Tool That Won't Make You Want to Throw Your Laptop

Postman: The 800lb Gorilla That Eats Your RAM

Look, Postman works. It's what everyone uses because it was first to not suck completely. But holy shit does it love to consume memory - I've seen it hit 2GB just sitting there with a few collections open.

The good stuff: Newman CLI actually works for CI/CD automation, the testing framework is solid once you figure out the weird Chai.js syntax, and collections sync across your team without breaking (usually). Mock servers are decent if you can stomach the pricing.

The annoying stuff: The desktop app crashes on Ubuntu 22.04+ with certain graphics drivers (learned this during a deployment when the staging environment needed testing). Collections get corrupted if you edit them simultaneously - lost 3 hours of work because two team members saved at the same time. The pricing jumped from reasonable to "are you fucking kidding me" around v9 - we went from $150/month to $450/month for the same team size.

When to use it: Your company already pays for it, you need advanced scripting, or you're stuck with enterprise compliance bullshit.

Insomnia: Pretty but Kong Fucked It Up

Insomnia used to be great - clean UI, GraphQL that didn't suck, and no Electron bloat. Then Kong bought it and slowly started Kong-ifying everything.

The good stuff: Still the best GraphQL experience by far. Schema introspection works like magic. Git sync is actually native, not some hacky plugin. UI doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out.

The bad stuff: Import from Postman breaks half your auth setups - spent a Friday rebuilding OAuth flows that worked fine in Postman. Pro features are paywalled harder than before. Plugin ecosystem is dead - most haven't been updated since 2022, and the ones that work break with every major update.

When to use it: GraphQL-heavy work, you hate Postman's UI, or you're already in the Kong ecosystem.

Thunder Client: The VS Code Extension That Could

This is what happens when someone says "fuck it, I'm not opening another app." Works entirely inside VS Code, which is either perfect or useless depending on your workflow.

The good stuff: Zero context switching if you live in VS Code. Cheap as dirt - $4/month is less than your daily coffee. Collections stay with your project files. Fast as hell because it's just a VS Code extension.

The bad stuff: Collaboration features are basically non-existent - sharing collections means emailing JSON files like a caveman. If your team doesn't use VS Code, you're screwed. Pro features are limited compared to the big boys. Breaking changes with VS Code updates happen - extension died for 3 days when VS Code 1.75 launched.

When to use it: You're a solo dev or small team, everyone uses VS Code, and you're tired of switching apps every 30 seconds.

Hoppscotch: The Idealistic Open Source Dream

The only one that doesn't want to lock you into their ecosystem. Actually free, actually open source, actually respects your privacy. Sounds too good to be true, right?

The good stuff: Unlimited everything on the free tier. Self-host it if you're paranoid. No vendor lock-in because you have the source code. Clean web UI that loads fast.

The bad stuff: Missing advanced features the others have. Community plugins are hit-or-miss. Documentation can be sparse for edge cases. Still the "new kid" despite being around for years.

When to use it: You hate paying for tools, need self-hosting, or believe in open source idealism. Also works great for quick tests without installing anything.

The 3AM Debugging Test

Here's the real question: you're debugging at 3AM, production is down, and you need to test an API endpoint RIGHT NOW. Which tool will:

1. Launch fastest
2. Not crash when you need it most
3. Actually send the fucking request

Thunder Client wins if VS Code is already open (which it is). Hoppscotch wins if you need to grab any computer. Postman will probably work but takes 30 seconds to load. Insomnia is pretty but good luck if it's the first time using it.

What Your Team Actually Needs (Not What You Think You Need)

Solo Developer

Stop overthinking it. Use Thunder Client if you're in VS Code all day. Use Hoppscotch if you switch between editors. Don't pay for Postman unless your client is.

Small Team (2-5 people)

Hoppscotch because it's free and actually good. Share collections through Git like civilized humans. If everyone lives in VS Code, Thunder Client works great.

Bigger Team (5+ people)

Postman because collaboration actually matters now and you probably have budget. Insomnia if you're doing GraphQL-heavy work and the team lead has strong opinions about UI design.

Enterprise Hellscape

Postman because your security team googled "enterprise API testing" and it was the first result. Don't fight this battle - you have bigger problems.

The Shit That Breaks (And How to Deal With It)

Memory Issues

Postman will eat 1-2GB if you let it - saw it hit 2.3GB during a load testing session with 50 collections. Close other tabs, restart it weekly, or get more RAM. Insomnia is better but still Electron - usually stays under 800MB. Thunder Client uses VS Code's memory pool, so it's as hungry as your editor. Hoppscotch runs in a browser tab - Chrome will kill it before it eats everything.

Import/Export Hell

Every tool claims to import from the others. They're all lying. Postman → Insomnia works 70% of the time. Everything else is a fucking nightmare. Start fresh or spend a day fixing broken imports.

Version Compatibility

• Postman v10+ broke a bunch of old collections
• Thunder Client breaks with VS Code updates occasionally
• Insomnia's Kong transition fucked up some plugins
• Hoppscotch moves fast and breaks things (but fixes them quickly)

Collaboration Disasters

Real talk: shared collections get corrupted. Someone will overwrite someone else's work. Have backups. Use version control when possible. Don't edit the same collection simultaneously.

The Honest Migration Guide

Leaving Postman

Export collections, import to new tool, fix the 20% that breaks, train your team, deal with complaints for 2 weeks. Budget 40 hours of developer time.

Leaving Insomnia

Export as HAR or OpenAPI, import elsewhere, recreate your environments manually, cry a little. Budget 20 hours.

Leaving Thunder Client

Copy/paste requests like an animal or use the export feature and pray. Budget 10 hours plus frustration.

Leaving Hoppscotch

Actually easy because they don't lock you in. Export works, data is portable, transition is smooth. Budget 5 hours.

The Pricing Reality Check

• Free tiers are bait - you'll outgrow them if your project matters
• Per-seat pricing adds up fast - calculate real costs at your team size
• Hidden costs exist - mock servers, CI/CD minutes, storage limits
• Budget for yearly billing - monthly costs are usually 20% higher

Bottom line: Hoppscotch if you're broke, Thunder Client if you're cheap, Postman if money isn't the problem.