The Postman Alternative for VS Code
A free, privacy-first REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket API client built natively into Visual Studio Code. No login. No cloud sync. No telemetry. No paid tiers.
Why a VS Code-native Postman alternative?
If you're searching for a Postman alternative for VS Code, you've probably hit one of these walls:
- Postman's desktop app forces a login and pushes your collections to its cloud by default
- Switching between your editor and a separate API client breaks flow on every test cycle
- Your API tokens, request bodies, and response payloads contain sensitive data you'd rather not sync anywhere
- Free Postman tiers keep shrinking, and team features are paywalled
Postmate Client takes the opposite approach. It runs entirely inside VS Code, stores everything locally, and never phones home. You get a full visual request builder — tabs for params, headers, body, auth, tests, and pre/post-request scripts — without leaving your editor and without sending a single byte to anyone else's server.
Compare API responses across environments
Catch breaking changes before they hit production. Pick two environments, fire parallel requests, and see exactly what changed — in clean JSONPath notation. Need to compare hundreds of inputs? Point it at a CSV data table.
Run collections from VS Code or your CI/CD pipeline
The built-in Collection Runner executes entire test suites — from a single VS Code panel or from your CI/CD pipeline via the free CLI. Pass/fail summaries, response times, assertion details, and HTML reports included.
How Postmate Client compares
A side-by-side with the two API clients VS Code developers most often consider.
| Postmate Client | Postman | Thunder Client | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs inside VS Code | ✅ Native | ❌ Separate app | ✅ Native |
| Works offline | ✅ Always | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Limited |
| Works without login | ✅ Always | ❌ Required | ⚠️ For paid features |
| Zero telemetry | ✅ None | ❌ Yes | ❌ Yes |
| Git-friendly local storage | ✅ Local files | ⚠️ Cloud default | ⚠️ |
| WebSocket / WSS support | ✅ Free | ⚠️ Login required | 💰 Paid tier |
| Free CLI for CI/CD | ✅ Free | 💰 Paid (Newman) | 💰 Paid tier |
| Parallel response diff | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Manual | ❌ |
| Bulk CSV comparison | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Scripting required | ❌ |
| Postman v2.1 / OpenAPI / Swagger import | ✅ One click | — | ⚠️ Partial |
| Team-size limits | None | Free tier limits | Free tier limits |
| Price | ✅ Free forever | 💰 Freemium | 💰 Freemium |
Why we built this
Postmate Client started because our team needed something nobody was shipping: a fast, local API client that could fire parallel calls at Prod and Staging from a CSV before every deployment, without sending our request bodies to someone else's cloud.
We tried Postman. The login wall, the cloud sync, the paywalled features — none of it fit how we actually worked. We tried Thunder Client. Closer, but the paid tiers kept gating the features we needed most. So we built our own, kept it inside VS Code where we already lived, and made every feature free because the whole point was to remove gates, not add new ones.
That's still the philosophy. No telemetry, no login, no premium tier. If you find Postmate Client useful, the best thing you can do is tell another developer about it.
Get started in under a minute
- Install the Postmate Client extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
- Click the Postmate Client icon in the VS Code Activity Bar, then click New Request.
- Paste a URL, hit Send — your first API call without leaving the editor.
No account creation. No onboarding flow. No email confirmation. You're testing APIs in under a minute.
Explore the docs
Frequently asked questions
Is Postmate Client really free?
Yes. Postmate Client is 100% free, with no paid tier, no team-size limits, and no premium features locked behind a subscription. Every capability — REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, collection runner, CLI, response comparison — is available to every user.
Does Postmate Client send my data anywhere?
No. Postmate Client has zero telemetry, no cloud sync, and no login. Every request, collection, environment, and token stays on your machine. Your API data never touches our servers because we don't have any.
Can I import my Postman collections?
Yes. Postmate Client imports Postman v2.1 collections, OpenAPI 3.0, Swagger 2.0, and cURL commands in one click. Bring your existing work with you — no rebuilding required.
Does Postmate Client work offline?
Yes. Postmate Client runs entirely inside VS Code with no external runtime dependency. You can send requests, manage collections, and run tests without an internet connection (as long as your target API is reachable).
How does Postmate Client compare to Thunder Client?
Both are VS Code-native API clients, but Postmate Client offers free WebSocket support, free CLI for CI/CD pipelines, parallel response comparison across environments, and data-driven testing from CSV files — capabilities that Thunder Client either restricts to paid tiers or doesn't offer.
Can my team share collections?
Yes — through Git. Postmate Client stores collections as local files in your repo, which means version control, code review, and team sharing happen through the same workflow you already use for source code.
Does it support GraphQL and WebSockets?
Yes. Postmate Client includes a dedicated GraphQL editor with Query and Variables panes, plus full WebSocket support for ws:// and wss:// endpoints with TEXT, JSON, XML, and HTML message modes — all free, no paid tier.
What's the catch?
Postmate Client is local-first by design, so there's no built-in cloud workspace or real-time multi-user collaboration. If your team needs centralized cloud sync with live editing, Postman is a better fit. If you want a fast, private, free API client that lives in your editor and syncs through Git, Postmate Client is built for you.
Try Postmate Client
Install the extension and send your first request in under a minute.