# Alternatives to Hoppscotch

Open source web-based API client.

Hoppscotch ranks #4 of 6 in API clients, with an Alt Score of 85. It is licensed under MIT, open source with paid hosting from Free and available on Web, Windows, macOS and Linux. 11 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hoppscotch/
Category: API clients

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Developers and QA/API teams who build, test, and debug REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, and other real-time APIs, especially those wanting a faster, lighter, self-hostable alternative to Postman.
- **What you get**: A browser-based (and desktop/PWA) client for sending requests and inspecting responses across REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, SSE, Socket.IO, and MQTT. It includes collections, environments, variables, pre-request/test scripts, and team workspaces with role-based sharing. It's fully open source and can be self-hosted or used via the hosted app, with a CLI for running collections in CI.
- **How it works**: You build requests in a UI organized into collections and environments, send them directly from the browser (using a companion browser extension or proxy to bypass CORS when needed), and view live responses; scripts can run before/after requests for setup and assertions, and everything can sync to a team workspace or run headlessly via the CLI.

## Profile

- **License**: MIT (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Platforms**: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-08)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Bruno](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bruno.md) | 100 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [Insomnia](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/insomnia.md) | 100 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Yaak](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/yaak.md) | 96 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [Postman](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/postman.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| 5 | [HTTPie](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/httpie.md) | 55 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| API clients checklist | Hoppscotch | Bruno | Insomnia | Yaak | Postman | HTTPie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | Free | Free | Free | Free | $9/month | Free |
| License | MIT | MIT | Apache-2.0 | MIT | Proprietary | BSD-3-Clause |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| Collections & environments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first storage (no forced cloud) | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Git-friendly formats | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| GraphQL support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| gRPC support | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| WebSocket support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Scripting / pre-request hooks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| CLI runner | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No |
| OpenAPI import | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Offline use | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Hoppscotch. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/getting-started/introduction> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Available offline, on-prem, and on the cloud with Web, Desktop, and CLI apps.”
- **License**: MIT — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch/main/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “MIT License

Copyright (c) 2022”
- **Starts at**: Free — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/getting-started/introduction> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Available offline, on-prem, and on the cloud with Web, Desktop, and CLI apps.”
- **Platforms**: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/clients/desktop> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Build and test APIs natively with a cross-platform client. Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.”
- **Status**: active — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: Frequent releases (latest 2026.6.0).
  - Quote: “Hoppscotch is a lightweight, web-based API development suite.”
- **Collections & environments**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/collections> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Hoppscotch helps you to organize your API requests with collections.”
- **Local-first storage (no forced cloud)**: Partial — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: Cloud sync for logged-in users; not strictly local-first.
  - Quote: “Collections are synced with your cloud/local session storage.”
- **Git-friendly formats**: Partial — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: File/gist export; no native version-controlled format.
  - Quote: “Export and import as a file or GitHub gist”
- **GraphQL support**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/graphql-api-testing> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Test GraphQL APIs in Hoppscotch with the query builder, schema explorer, variables, headers, and real-time response inspection tools.”
- **WebSocket support**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/realtime-api-testing> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Connect to and test real-time APIs in Hoppscotch using WebSocket, Server-Sent Events (SSE), Socket.IO, and MQTT protocols with live logs.”
- **Scripting / pre-request hooks**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/scripts> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Write pre-request scripts and post-request tests in Hoppscotch using JavaScript”
- **CLI runner**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/clients/cli/overview> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: CLI in alpha.
  - Quote: “Use the Hoppscotch CLI to run API tests, automate monitoring, and manage collections from your terminal.”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch/main/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “MIT License”
- **Team collaboration**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/workspaces> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: Shared workspaces (REST).
  - Quote: “invite other users to your workspace to collaborate.”
- **OpenAPI import**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/features/importer> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Import collections and environments from Postman, Insomnia, OpenAPI, and other tools into Hoppscotch.”
- **Offline use**: Yes — <https://docs.hoppscotch.io/documentation/getting-started/introduction> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Available offline, on-prem, and on the cloud with Web, Desktop, and CLI apps.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/