Clobbr

// Clobbr vs Postman

The Postman alternative for private, no-subscription load testing

Postman is a fine API IDE, but for load testing it wants your data in its cloud and your team on its subscription. Clobbr keeps everything on your machine, ships as a lifetime license, and is built around one job: hammering endpoints and reading the numbers.

Download the Clobbr api speed test app on the App StoreDownload the Clobbr api speed test app on the Microsoft StoreGet Clobbr api speed test CLI from npmView or download Clobbr api speed test on Github

Why developers look for a Postman alternative

Postman is great at what it was originally designed to do: build, organize, and share HTTP requests. The reasons developers usually land on this page are all about what sits around that core:

  • Subscription pricing. Real load testing, collaboration, and history live behind paid tiers that bill per seat, per month, indefinitely.
  • Cloud-by-default. Your requests, environments, and collections sync to Postman's servers when signed in. For some teams that's a feature; for others it's a policy violation.
  • Load testing is not the main feature. It was added recently, lives inside a larger IDE, and its plan limits (VUs, test minutes) can be tight on mid-tier plans.

Clobbr takes the opposite approach: single-purpose, no account, no cloud, no subscription, lifetime license. You give up the API IDE; you get fast, private load tests.

Feature-by-feature: Clobbr vs Postman

Side-by-side on the parts that matter for load testing specifically.

Clobbr vs Postman feature comparison
FeatureClobbrPostman
Built forLoad testing (concurrency, throughput, latency distribution)API development & exploration; load testing is a secondary mode
Account requiredNoYes for most meaningful features
Where test data livesYour machine only. Nothing is uploaded.Postman Cloud (workspace sync, team features)
Pricing modelLifetime license (free CLI, Included on Setapp)Freemium with per-seat subscription tiers
Load testing limitsNone. Run as many iterations as your local resources allow.Performance tests are metered (paid plan limits on VUs/minutes)
GraphQL detectionAuto-detects GraphQL, splits stats per operationTreats GraphQL like any other HTTP call
Result historyLocal, browsable, with charts and percentile statsIn Postman Cloud; local history is limited
CLI for CI/CDYes (@clobbr/cli on npm, CSV/JSON/YAML export)Newman (request-level); separate performance CLI is limited
Install footprintLightweight desktop app or single-npm-install CLIFull Electron app tuned for API IDE workflows

Privacy & data handling

Clobbr stores test configs, result history, and response data locally, in the app's storage on your machine. We don't run collection servers, we don't log your requests, and we don't have telemetry on your test contents. Sharing a result uses a copy-paste payload that you control, and sensitive info can be stripped before sharing.

Postman's model is different by design: being signed in means your workspace syncs to Postman Cloud so your team can collaborate. That tradeoff works for a lot of teams. It doesn't work if your API hits internal services under NDA, or if you'd rather not upload production auth headers to a third party at all.

Pricing comparison

Clobbr ships as a lifetime license. You buy the desktop app once and own it. No subscription, no seat fees, no minimum team size. The CLI is free on npm, and the app is bundled free in Setapp.

Postman is a SaaS with a freemium tier. The free tier is generous for API exploration, but performance testing, run history, and team collaboration require a paid per-seat subscription. Over a two-year horizon, a small team on Postman's paid plans costs far more than Clobbr, and the costs continue indefinitely.

CLI & CI/CD parity

Clobbr ships with a first-class CLI, @clobbr/cli. It takes the same request config as the GUI and exports results to CSV, JSON, or YAML. Drop it into GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or CircleCI, fail the build on threshold breach, and you're done.

Postman's CLI equivalent for request running is Newman, which is excellent for functional API tests. For performance / load testing specifically, CLI support is narrower and plan-limited.

// FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Why would I pick Clobbr over Postman for load testing?
If load testing is what you actually want to do, Clobbr is purpose-built for it: concurrency controls, percentile stats, browsable result history, automatic GraphQL detection. Postman's load testing lives inside its API IDE and puts most features behind its cloud and paid tiers.
Does Clobbr need a Postman-style account or workspace?
No. You download the app, open it, and run a test. There's no sign-up, no workspace sync, no cloud. That's the tradeoff we made: we don't give you team collaboration out of the box, but we also don't ask for your data.
Can I import my Postman collections into Clobbr?
There isn't a direct Postman collection importer today. Because Clobbr is focused on load testing (URL + verb + headers + payload), re-creating a request takes under a minute. If this matters for your team, let us know via GitHub; it's on the radar.
How does pricing compare?
Clobbr ships as a lifetime license for the desktop app, with no recurring charges, plus a free CLI on npm and inclusion in Setapp. Postman is a freemium SaaS: the free tier is usable for small teams, but load testing and most collaboration features require a monthly per-seat subscription.
Where do test results live?
Everything runs and is stored on your machine. We don't have servers collecting your requests, endpoints, or results. Postman, by design, syncs your workspace (requests, collections, environments) to the Postman cloud when you're signed in.
Is there a way to run Clobbr in CI like Postman's Newman?
Yes. Install @clobbr/cli in your pipeline, run a test, and gate on exit code + threshold. See parsecph/clobbr-ci-examples for GitHub Actions / GitLab CI / CircleCI setups.
When is Postman the right tool?
When your primary job is building and exploring APIs with your team: writing requests, sharing collections, documenting schemas, scripting tests. Postman is a full API IDE, and its load testing is a feature of that IDE. Clobbr is the opposite: single-purpose, local-first, cheap.

// Related

Related pages

// Ship it

Try Clobbr

Lifetime license, no subscription. No account. Data stays on your machine. The CLI is free, and it's included in Setapp.

Download the Clobbr api speed test app on the App StoreDownload the Clobbr api speed test app on the Microsoft StoreGet Clobbr api speed test CLI from npmView or download Clobbr api speed test on Github

Lifetime license · macOS, Windows, CLI · no subscription · available Included on Setapp