Postman vs. Kong
Learn how Kong's patchwork approach stacks up against Postman's unified platform for collaborative API development.
Why Postman?
Postman was built with a unified vision: to serve every stage of the API lifecycle within a single platform. In contrast, Kong has taken a modular approach, assembling its portfolio through a combination of in-house development and acquisition of point solutions. The result is a collection of loosely connected tools that are billed separately and have varying levels of integration.
Postman
Free for 3 users; paid plans start at $14 / month
Insomnia
Starts at $12 per user / month
Kong Gateway
Contact sales
Kong Konnect
Contact sales
Kong Mesh
Contact sales
API client
Includes a full-featured API client for REST, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSockets
Provides built-in support for over 10 authentication methods, including OAuth 2.0
Includes a basic API client that lacks support for MQTT and Socket.io
API design
Supports many API definition formats
Supports dynamic, customizable mock servers that can be shared publicly or privately
Supports OpenAPI and GraphQL definitions only, with limited mocking capabilities
Offers basic mocking capabilities for route-specific responses
Supports OpenAPI, RAML, and AsyncAPI specifications, but lacks dynamic mock servers
API documentation
Auto-generates interactive documentation that updates in real time
Documentation is extensively customizable
Supports public and private documentation
Auto-generation is more limited; documentation cannot be made public and users cannot add images or videos
Offers customizable, interactive API documentation that can be public or private, but it cannot be auto-generated
API collaboration
Workspaces and collections support real-time collaboration across the entire API lifecycle
Includes in-line comments, activity feeds, and built-in version control
Supports collaboration within teams, as well as with partners and third-party developers
API Testing
Supports many testing strategies, including performance testing and automated testing
Offers advanced testing features, like reusable scripts and AI-generated tests
Supports comprehensive CI/CD testing, with results sent back to Postman
Testing features are limited to basic assertions and unit tests
Integrations and ecosystem
Integrates with cloud providers, CI/CD pipelines, chat apps, source code repos, and more
The Postman API Network is home to 100,000 public APIs and 18,000 companies
The VS Code extension brings Postman's functionality into VS Code
Includes a vast plugin ecosystem, but no API network or VS Code extension
Limited integrations; no public API network or VS Code extension
Supports API discovery and sharing APIs with internal and external developers, but integrations are limited
Limited integrations; no public API network or VS Code extension
API monitoring
Includes native API monitoring with customizable alerts and scheduled tests
Provides runtime observability data for monitoring API traffic and performance, but alerts require additional configuration
Provides runtime observability data for monitoring API traffic and performance, but alerts require additional configuration
Provides built-in traffic metrics, service-level observability, and distributed tracing to monitor API performance within a service mesh
API security and governance
Includes automated, customizable checks for security and compliance
Offers advanced security features like secret scanning and third-party vault integrations
Provides reports and dashboards for security and governance
Lacks automated, customizable checks for security and governance, as well as advanced security features
Includes runtime security features and third-party vault integrations, but lacks secret scanning, reports, and automated checks
Enables consistent enforcement of security policies and API auditing, but lacks secret scanning, reports, and automated checks
Enforces zero-trust security and consistent policy application, but lacks secret scanning, reports, and automated checks
Pricing
Postman's unified platform means transparent and straightforward per user pricing. With the exception of Insomnia, Kong's tools require custom pricing negotiated through each tool's respective sales team.
Estimated annual cost for 3 users
Free
Custom pricing - contact sales
Estimated annual cost for 25 users
$4,200
Custom pricing - contact sales
Industry recognition
Don't just take our word for it—learn why G2 recognized Postman as the #1 API platform in 2024.
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