Postman is the cloud platform. Ripple is the workbench on your disk — no account, no sync tax.
Choose Postman when you need enterprise governance, hosted docs, API monitoring, and a full collaboration platform your whole org already uses. Choose Ripple when you want a private, offline-capable workbench that combines protocols and API design in one local app — especially if Postman's cloud model and pricing don't fit solo or small-team workflows.
Local by default
Collections in ripple.db — not a cloud workspace you rent per seat.
More protocols
gRPC, SQL, WebSocket/SSE/Socket.IO beside HTTP in one native app.
CI without Newman lock-in
rip CLI — Postman import, JUnit/HTML/GitHub reporters, Newman-compatible runner.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Ripple | Postman |
|---|---|---|
| Storage model | Local SQLite file — no cloud | Cloud workspaces (sync required) |
| Runtime | Rust workbench — ~21 MB download, ~45 MB idle | Electron — ~250 MB+ download, 280–900 MB idle |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Team pricing | Free tier + Pro (see pricing page) | Paid team and org plans |
| HTTP + GraphQL | Yes | Yes |
| WebSocket / SSE / Socket.IO | Yes, with stream scripts | Limited / add-on workflows |
| gRPC (all streaming) | Yes, with reflection | Yes |
| SQL runner | Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | No |
| OpenAPI design + mock | Built-in Design Studio + local mock server | Mocks + hosted docs (platform) |
| Load testing | Built-in Load Test Lab | Via monitors / external tools |
| Triage tools | Built-in — JSON tree/graph, diff editor, JWT, encode/decode, network diagnostics | Response preview; utilities mostly via scripts or external tools |
| On-device AI | Son of Anton (GGUF, offline) | Postbot (cloud, credit-billed) |
| CI / headless CLI | rip CLI — collection/chain/postman runs, JUnit/JSON/HTML/GitHub reporters | Newman / Postman CLI |
| Request chains | Multi-step workflows with JSON-path extraction | Flows (platform, paid tiers) |
| SOAP / WSDL | Built-in SOAP body + WSDL import (Pro) | Limited / via scripts |
| Telemetry | None | Cloud analytics on platform usage |
Who should use what?
Choose Ripple
- You want zero cloud dependency — collections, history, and settings stay in ripple.db locally
- You care about startup time and responsiveness — native Rust workbench, not a bloated Electron stack
- You need gRPC (all streaming modes), SQL, and real-time protocols beside HTTP in one window
- You design OpenAPI specs, spin up mock servers, and run load tests without switching tools
- You triage responses in-app — JSON graph, diff editor, JWT decoder, encode/decode, DNS/ping/traceroute without leaving the workbench
Choose Postman
- Your team relies on Postman workspaces, RBAC, and org-wide API catalogs
- You need hosted API documentation, monitors, and Newman/Postman CLI in CI today
- Stakeholders expect a polished cloud platform rather than a local desktop app
- Postbot, SDK generation, or private network features are load-bearing for your workflow
Switch from Postman
- 1Export collections from Postman (Collection v2.1) or paste cURL to recreate requests
- 2Import Postman environment files for globals and environment variables
- 3Ripple supports the same variable syntax ({{name}}) and familiar pm.* script APIs in pre-request and test scripts
- 4OAuth 2.0, OIDC, AWS SigV4, Digest, Hawk, NTLM, and mTLS auth types are supported for parity with advanced Postman setups