Measured on macOS (Apple Silicon), release v0.0.1-beta.2, June 2026. Baseline profile: local AI (Son of Anton) disabled. AI and MCP are optional and only consume extra memory when you use them.
~21 MB
Download
macOS DMG
~45 MB
Idle memory
AI off · footprint
< 2 s
Cold start
to interactive UI
< 10 ms
Request overhead
UI → Rust → wire
How Ripple compares
Ripple matches lean tools on download size and beats them on idle memory — while shipping a full API platform. Compared to Postman-class apps, Ripple uses an order of magnitude less RAM at idle.
| Ripple | Lightweight REST client* | Postman | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download (macOS) | ~21 MB | ~20 MB | ~250 MB+ |
| Memory at idle | ~45 MB | ~60 MB | 280–900 MB |
| Cold startup | < 2 s | < 2 s | 3–8 s |
| Request overhead | < 10 ms | < 10 ms | Higher (Electron + extensions) |
| Collections & workspaces | ✓ | Limited | ✓ |
| Mock servers & load testing | ✓ | — | Add-ons |
| Optional on-device AI | ✓ | — | — |
* Representative open-source, HTTP-focused desktop client. See all comparisons for Insomnia and Hoppscotch.
Download size
Ripple ships as a small download on macOS — comparable to single-purpose REST clients, despite bundling collections, workspaces, mock servers, scripting, OpenAPI design, load testing, and optional local AI.
macOS
| Format | Apple Silicon | Intel Mac |
|---|---|---|
| DMG installer | 20.9 MB | 21.6 MB |
| .app.tar.gz | 21.3 MB | 21.9 MB |
Linux
| Format | Download size | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| .deb / .rpm | 37.1 MB | Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, RHEL — recommended |
| AppImage | 106 MB | Maximum portability across distros |
The AppImage bundles its own WebKit/GTK stack so Ripple runs on any Linux distro without relying on system libraries. Choose .deb or .rpm when you can — same app, roughly one-third the download.
After install, the macOS app occupies ~48 MB on disk. The DMG is compressed; the installed binary is uncompressed. This is normal for a Rust + native UI shell with an embedded frontend.
Memory at idle
~45 MB — typical idle memory on macOS with local AI turned off. Ripple stays light because the HTTP engine runs in Rust, not in the webview, and the local AI model does not load at startup — only when you send your first chat message.
| Scenario | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Everyday API work (AI off) | ~45 MB |
| AI enabled, before first chat | Still ~45 MB — model loads lazily |
| After chatting with local AI | Rises while model is loaded; drops when AI is disabled |
| During AI inference | Temporary spike; recovers within seconds |
Ripple vs the numbers you might see elsewhere
Some system monitors report 140 MB+ RSS for Ripple. That includes WebKit address space and looks worse than reality. We report footprint — the metric macOS uses for actual memory pressure — because it's the honest answer to “how much RAM is this costing me?”
| App (idle, AI off) | Memory |
|---|---|
| Ripple | ~45 MB |
| Lightweight REST client | ~60 MB |
| Postman | 280–900 MB |
Cold startup
Under 2 s to a usable window on Apple Silicon. Ripple shows a splash screen until your collections, history, and workspace state are loaded — then opens immediately. No artificial delay, no loading spinner loop.
| Milestone | Time |
|---|---|
| Database & backend ready | ~410 ms |
| Full UI interactive | < 2 s |
The backend is ready in under half a second. The remainder is WebKit startup and restoring your workspace from local SQLite — the tradeoff for opening exactly where you left off.
Request overhead
Less than 10 milliseconds added on top of the network round-trip. Your requests don't go through JavaScript. Ripple's HTTP stack is native Rust (reqwest + TLS + redirects + auth). The UI sends the request to the Rust core; the core hits the wire.
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Loopback overhead (Rust core vs curl) | < 1 ms |
| End-to-end (UI → Rust → network) | < 10 ms |
| Remote requests (e.g. api.example.com) | Network time dominates — Ripple adds negligible overhead |
Send a request in Ripple and you're not waiting on an Electron renderer. You're waiting on the server.
Built for speed, honest about tradeoffs
Where Ripple wins
- ~21 MB macOS download — same league as REST-only tools, with far more features included
- ~45 MB idle memory — lighter than many single-purpose clients; dramatically lighter than Postman
- Sub-10 ms request overhead — native Rust HTTP, not a browser tab
- Lazy AI loading — no 5 GB model mmap at launch; AI memory only when you chat
Where we're transparent
| Topic | The honest answer |
|---|---|
| Installed size vs download | ~21 MB download, ~48 MB on disk after install (uncompressed) |
| Linux AppImage | 106 MB — trades size for run-anywhere portability; use .deb/.rpm when possible |
| Local AI enabled | Loading an 8B model uses significant RAM during chat — expected for on-device inference; disable Son of Anton in Settings when you don't need it |
| Rich UI startup | Sub-2-second launch includes restoring your workspace; a blank-window REST tool can start slightly faster because it loads less |
Methodology
We believe benchmark pages should be reproducible, not marketing fiction.
Environment
- Hardware: Mac with Apple Silicon, 36 GB RAM
- Build: Release v0.0.1-beta.2 (official macOS installer)
- Profile: Son of Anton (local AI) disabled unless noted
| Metric | How we measured it |
|---|---|
| Download size | File size of official release installers (DMG, .deb, .rpm, etc.) |
| Installed size | Disk usage of the .app bundle after installation |
| Idle memory | macOS footprint — physical memory footprint at idle, no requests sent |
| Cold startup | Time from launch to interactive UI; backend milestone logged at ~410 ms |
| Request overhead | Loopback HTTP benchmark: Rust core vs curl, 20 runs (warmup excluded) |
Competitor figures for lightweight REST clients and Postman are from published benchmarks and typical user reports; your mileage may vary by OS, extensions, and workspace size.
Last updated: June 2026 · Release v0.0.1-beta.2
Questions?
Does Ripple load AI models at startup? No. Models load on your first chat message. With AI disabled in Settings, idle memory stays around 45 MB. See the FAQ.
Can I verify these numbers? Yes. Install the release build, disable Son of Anton in Settings, and measure with macOS Activity Monitor (Memory column) or the footprint command-line tool.