Postman

Let's address the elephant in the room first: Postman just dropped Agent Mode at POST/CON 25, and it's either the future of API development or another layer of complexity—depending on who you ask.

This AI-native assistant promises to transform "weeks of manual API work into hours" by letting you describe what you want in plain English. Think of it as having a senior developer who never sleeps, automatically designing, testing, and documenting your APIs. The demo looked slick, but here's what actually matters:

• Natural language API creation - "Build me a user authentication API with JWT" actually works
• Automatic test generation - It writes comprehensive test suites based on your API structure
• Smart documentation - Updates docs as your API evolves (finally!)
• State-aware execution - Unlike basic AI copilots, it understands context across your entire project

But here's the catch: it's only available on paid plans, and many developers worry it's making an already complex tool even more overwhelming. We'll dig deeper into whether these AI features justify the price tag.

If you're new here, Postman is the 800-pound gorilla of API testing tools. With over 30 million users and backing from 98% of Fortune 500 companies, it's basically the Microsoft Office of API development.

But unlike its humble beginnings as a simple Chrome extension in 2012, today's Postman is a full-blown API platform that does... well, everything. And that's both its greatest strength and biggest weakness.

At its core, Postman helps you:

• Send HTTP requests and inspect responses (the basics)
• Build and organize API collections
• Automate testing with scripts
• Mock APIs before they're built
• Generate and maintain documentation
• Monitor API performance in production
• Collaborate with team members in real-time

Think of it as the Swiss Army knife of API tools—except this knife now has 50 different attachments, an AI assistant, and requires a manual to operate effectively. Whether that's a good thing depends entirely on your needs.

Postman operates through three main components, each with its own learning curve:

1. The Desktop App: This is your main workspace. It's powerful but can feel like piloting a spaceship when you just need to test a simple endpoint. Pro tip: the app can consume serious RAM—users report 1-2GB usage for larger projects. Keep that Task Manager handy.

2. The Web Version: Accessible from anywhere, but forces you into Postman's cloud ecosystem. Great for collaboration, not so great if you're privacy-conscious or working with sensitive APIs. Plus, it's noticeably slower than the desktop app.

3. The VS Code Extension: Now generally available and actually quite good! If you're already living in VS Code, this might be the sweet spot—API testing without leaving your editor.

Here's the typical workflow:

1. Create a request: Enter your endpoint URL, choose your method (GET, POST, etc.)
2. Add parameters: Headers, body data, authentication—Postman handles it all
3. Send and inspect: See the response with syntax highlighting and various viewing options
4. Save to collection: Organize related requests for easy reuse
5. Write tests: Use JavaScript to validate responses automatically
6. Share or sync: Collaborate with your team (if you're paying)

Sounds simple? It is—until you discover environments, pre-request scripts, collection runners, monitors, mock servers, and the other 47 features you'll probably never use but will clutter your interface anyway.

⚠️ Hidden Cost Alert: Watch out for "auto-flex" billing! If you accidentally add team members or exceed limits, you'll get charged automatically. Users report surprise bills and difficulty getting refunds. Always monitor your usage.

Want unlimited collection runs? That's an extra add-on. Need better security? Another add-on. The modular pricing can quickly escalate from $29 to $50+ per user.

✅ Perfect for:

• Enterprise teams: The collaboration features and security options justify the cost
• API-first companies: When your entire business revolves around APIs
• QA teams: Automated testing and monitoring features are top-notch
• Learning API development: Despite complexity, it's still the best learning platform

❌ Skip if you're:

• A solo developer: Too much overhead for individual use
• Budget-conscious: The free tier is too limited, paid tiers expensive
• Doing simple testing: Like using a bulldozer to plant flowers
• Privacy-focused: The cloud-first approach isn't for everyone

🤔 The "It Depends" Zone:

If you're a small team (4-10 people) doing moderate API work, Postman might work—but carefully evaluate whether you need all those features. Many teams find that 80% of their needs can be met with simpler (and cheaper) alternatives.

Let's be real—if you're reading this far, you're probably wondering if there's something better out there. Here's how Postman stacks up:

The trend is clear: developers are moving toward lighter, more focused tools. Unless you need Postman's advanced features, you might be happier elsewhere.

If you're stuck with Postman (company mandate, existing collections, etc.), here's how to make it less painful:

1. Disable auto-sync: Settings > General > Turn off "Automatically sync my changes"
2. Use workspaces wisely: Don't load everything at once—switch between focused workspaces
3. Clear response cache: Settings > Data > Clear browsing data regularly
4. Limit response size: Settings > General > Max response size (set to 50MB or less)
5. Disable unnecessary features: Turn off interceptor, proxy, and other features you don't use
6. Use the lightweight runner: For simple tests, use Newman (CLI) instead of the GUI

Even with these optimizations, expect Postman to be resource-intensive. It's just the nature of the beast at this point.