Postman

Postman is an API platform used to design, test, document and monitor APIs. It is made by Postman, Inc., a company founded by Abhinav Asthana, Ankit Sobti and Abhijit Kane. Teams use it to build and share API collections, specifications, tests and mock servers in shared workspaces.

Postman runs as a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, as a web app, and from the command line with the Postman CLI. It solves a common problem in API work: requests, test scripts, environment variables and documentation tend to be scattered across tools and people. Postman keeps them together in shared workspaces.

Key features

• API client. Send requests over several protocols, organise them in collections and keep secrets in Postman Vault.
• Scripts and tests. Add scripts to requests and collections to run tests, set dynamic parameters and pass data between requests.
• Collection Runner. Run whole collections of requests and tests; the pricing page lists collection runs as unlimited on every plan.
• Mock servers and monitoring. Simulate endpoints before the backend exists and run scheduled monitors that alert when tests fail.
• Spec Hub and governance. Design APIs from specifications and check them against governance rules.
• Postman CLI. Run collections and tests in CI, lint specs, manage mock servers and generate SDKs.
• Postman AI. Every plan includes a monthly number of AI credits, with pay-as-you-go overage on paid plans.

Who it is for

Postman is used by backend and frontend developers who call APIs every day, QA engineers who automate API tests, and API product teams who publish documentation and workspaces for partners. Solo developers can work on the Free or Solo plan; teams that need shared workspaces, roles and collaboration move to Team; larger organisations with an API catalog and advanced access control choose Enterprise.

Pricing at a glance

• Free: $0 for one user; core API client and tools, mock servers, unlimited collection runs, 1,000 monitoring requests and 50 AI credits a month.
• Solo: $9 per month billed annually for one user; 10,000 monitoring requests, 400 AI credits and private npm packages.
• Team: $19 per user per month billed annually; unlimited users, team collaboration, basic role-based access and 400 AI credits per user.
• Enterprise: custom pricing; API Catalog, advanced RBAC and 800 pooled AI credits per user a month.

Monthly billing costs more than annual billing; the pricing page says annual billing saves up to 25%. Prices as checked on 7 October 2026; confirm on the vendor's pricing page.

Things to consider

• The Free plan is for a single user and does not include team collaboration, so shared workspaces need the Team plan.
• Usage-based items such as extra AI credits, extra monitoring, Flows credits and cloud performance testing are billed on top of the plan.
• Collections, tests and mocks built in Postman are stored in your Postman account; review where your data lives and how you would export it before relying on it for critical work.
• The number of features has grown, so new users may find the interface busy at first.

Getting started

1. Create a free account and install the desktop app or open the web app.
2. Read the Postman documentation overview.
3. Send your first request and save it into a collection.
4. Add environment variables and a few test scripts.
5. Run the collection with the Postman CLI in your CI pipeline.