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Why Postman?

SoapUI was built for a desktop-first world centered on SOAP, but APIs have evolved. While SoapUI has added support for REST and GraphQL, many modern protocols and cloud collaboration features still require technical workarounds or paid upgrades. Sticking with SoapUI means dealing with Java dependencies, local installs, and outdated workflows. Along with powerful SOAP capabilities, Postman delivers seamless support for REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSockets in a modern, cloud-native platform. Choosing Postman means faster delivery, easier scaling, and frictionless collaboration for the entire API lifecycle.

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Modern protocol support

Can you test all your APIs (SOAP, REST, GraphQL, gRPC) in one place?

Native support for SOAP, REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, and more

Import WSDL and generate collections

Schema validation across all protocols

Unified and visual workflow for mixed API architectures in one place

Primarily SOAP-focused with some REST support

No native GraphQL or gRPC support

Separate workflows for different protocols

Limited schema validation beyond SOAP

Performance & load testing

Can you validate performance without complex setup and separate tools?

Built-in performance testing through the Collection Runner & features that simulate parallel virtual users

Visual, real-time metrics such as average response time, error rate, throughput, and customizable graphs

Cloud-accessible reports and dashboards for monitoring and alerting

CI/CD pipeline integration for automated testing

Load generation is primarily desktop-based

Advanced load testing requires separate licensing (ReadyAPI Pro)

Manual result interpretation and reporting

No integrated reporting dashboards

Developer experience

Can your team adopt and scale testing practices quickly?

Intuitive interface with minimal learning curve

Extensive documentation and community support

Pre-built templates, collections, and examples

Automatic cloud-based updates & maintenance

Steep learning curve with complex interface

Java dependencies and version management

Limited community resources

Manual updates and maintenance overhead

Cloud-native collaboration

Can your team work together seamlessly without software barriers?

Web, desktop, and mobile access from anywhere

Real-time collaboration with comments, versioning, and activity history in shared workspaces

Instant sharing without installation requirements

Cloud sync keeps everyone updated automatically across devices and platforms

Java desktop application only

Manual sharing of projects through exports and imports

No file sync or cloud workspaces

Each team member needs local installation and setup

No real-time collaboration features

Integrated API lifecycle

Do your tests, docs, and specs stay connected as APIs evolve?

Connected workflow across design, testing, documentation, and monitoring

Auto-generated documentation that updates with spec and collection changes

Bidirectional sync between OpenAPI/Swagger specs and tests

Editing a collection updates documentation, and vice versa

Built-in mock servers, contract testing, and monitors support design-first iteration and continuous validation

Testing-focused with no lifecycle integration

Manual documentation creation and updates

No automatic connection between specs and tests

Limited mocking capabilities

Advanced mocking requires ReadyAPI upgrade

Enterprise security

Can you enforce standards and maintain compliance at scale?

Encrypted Postman Local Vault for secrets management

Sensitive data is always protected with industry-leading encryption

Role-based access control (RBAC) with granular permissions, audit logs tracking user & team activity, and two-factor authentication (2FA)

SOC 2 Type II & SOC 3, GDPR, HIPAA (offered through BAAs), PCI DSS, CCPA, and CSA STAR compliance certifications

Configurable policy enforcement, security vulnerability scanning, and governance dashboards for visibility & risk management

Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) encryption options

Local storage for credentials, which may expose security risks if mishandled

No centralized governance or audit capabilities

Provides security testing tools such as vulnerability scans, but does not offer enterprise-grade policy enforcement

No official compliance certifications

Challenge: SoapUI was originally designed for SOAP services in an era with less diverse API protocols. Today's API landscape has evolved to include REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, and hybrid architectures, which present challenges for teams relying on SoapUI. Users often face protocol switching difficulties, need multiple tools for full API coverage, and struggle to maintain consistent testing workflows across API types.

Why Postman: Postman provides native and comprehensive support for modern protocols (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets) while maintaining full SOAP compatibility. It allows teams to test all these protocols using consistent workflows, shared environments, and unified reporting. Postman's schema validation supports multiple protocols, reducing the need for protocol-specific expertise and helping ensure reliability.

Postman enables:

  • Native SOAP/WSDL import with automatic collection generation
  • REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSocket testing within the same workspace
  • Unified schema validation tools that work across protocols
  • Consistent authentication and environment management
  • Protocol-agnostic CI/CD integration with CLI tools
  • Cross-protocol contract testing and monitoring to maintain API quality

SoapUI considerations: SoapUI is primarily focused on SOAP and offers strong WSDL support, but it only has basic capabilities for REST. It lacks native support for modern protocols like GraphQL and gRPC, which require external tools or integration workarounds. Multiple tools or plugins are required to effectively cover all API testing needs. Testing approaches can be inconsistent across protocols, leading to workflow disruption when switching between API types. Protocol switching often breaks workflow continuity, impacting team efficiency.

Postman is trusted by over 500,000 companies, 40 million users, and 98% of the Fortune 500

Industry recognition

Don't just take our word for it—learn why G2 recognized Postman as the #1 API platform in 2024.

Read the report →

Illustration of Postmanaut on a podium raising a trophy with banner for G2 Leader.
Paylocity logo
Managing API specifications across multiple tools has always been a challenge for our teams. With Postman Spec Hub and Types, we can now integrate Postman more deeply into our API design cycle—natively capturing business rules and validation into our collections using JSON Schema. Spec Hub allows us to consolidate our entire API workflow, from design to testing and documentation, into a single, seamless platform. This eliminates the need for constant imports and exports, keeping our teams in sync and accelerating our API development process.

Ben Heil,

Principal Software Engineer, Paylocity

Paypal logo
APIs are a core strength for PayPal moving billions of dollars globally. Thanks to Postman it's possible to explore and invoke APIs in minutes. Postman creates an extremely seamless experience.

Swapnil Sapar,

Principal Engineer, PayPal | Read their story

Visma company logo
Postman is the complete platform that gives us the flexibility. It supports all the different technologies that our teams might use.

Mili Orucevic,

Chief Software Quality Engineer, Visma | Read their story

ShipEngine company logo
Postman is a familiar tool for API teams today. It's the lingua franca for how to understand APIs.

James Messingera,

Director of Developer Experience, ShipEngine

TotalEnergies company logo
The Postman API Platform is highly collaborative. Team workspaces enable our developer community to work effectively when designing and building APIs.

Amin Aissous,

Head of API Engineering, TDF, TotalEnergies | Read their story

Western Governors University logo
I find Postman's mocking capabilities inspiring and innovative. You can test your application or your service's reaction to dependencies. We're building in resiliency before we release.”

Jerry Jasperson,


Why teams choose Postman

These are the most common questions we hear from teams evaluating Postman as a modern API platform:

Is Postman more than just an API testing tool?

For developers, yes. Postman makes it easy to test SOAP services, REST APIs, and modern protocols like GraphQL and gRPC without switching tools. You get design, testing, documentation, and monitoring in one connected workflow. At the team level, Postman extends collaboration across the entire API lifecycle with shared workspaces, real-time comments, and governance features that SoapUI cannot match.

While SoapUI handles basic SOAP testing, modern API development requires more. Postman provides full SOAP support plus REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and cloud-native collaboration that scales with your team. You eliminate Java dependencies, desktop limitations, and tool switching while gaining real-time collaboration, automatic documentation, and enterprise governance.

Postman imports WSDL files and automatically generates test collections just like SoapUI, but with better usability and collaboration features. You get the same SOAP validation capabilities plus integration with REST and GraphQL testing in unified workflows. Teams benefit from cloud sync, shared environments, and governance features that SoapUI's desktop approach cannot provide.

Postman includes built-in performance testing with cloud-based load generation and visual reporting. Unlike SoapUI Pro's desktop-limited approach, Postman scales automatically and integrates performance testing into the same workflows used for functional testing. Teams get comprehensive testing capabilities without separate licensing or complex setup requirements.

Debunking common myths

SoapUI may make claims about Postman. Here are the facts:

Myth: SoapUI is more powerful for complex SOAP testing.

Fact: While SoapUI offers comprehensive SOAP features, Postman provides the same capabilities with better usability and modern workflows. Postman imports WSDL files, validates schemas, and handles complex SOAP operations while adding collaboration, documentation, and governance features that SoapUI lacks. The power is comparable, but the experience is significantly better.

Fact: Postman supports enterprise-grade SOAP testing with schema validation, complex authentication, and comprehensive reporting. Enterprise features like encrypted credential management, audit logs, and compliance certifications exceed what SoapUI provides. Teams get enterprise capabilities without sacrificing the simplicity that accelerates adoption.

Fact: While SoapUI Pro offers load testing, it's desktop-limited and requires complex setup. Postman's cloud-based performance testing scales automatically and integrates with functional testing workflows. Visual reporting and collaborative analysis make results more accessible to entire teams, not just technical specialists.

Fact: Postman can import SoapUI projects and WSDL files directly. Most teams find migration straightforward and immediately benefit from improved collaboration and reduced Java dependency management. Postman's learning resources and support team help ensure smooth transitions without losing existing test investments.

What evaluation teams want to know

Developer workflow frequently asks questions

Can Postman replace our SoapUI testing completely?

Yes. Postman handles all SOAP testing requirements, including WSDL import, schema validation, and complex authentication, while adding modern protocols and collaboration features. Teams typically find Postman more capable for comprehensive API testing across their entire portfolio, not just SOAP services.

Yes. Postman's desktop application provides full offline functionality for testing while offering cloud sync when connectivity returns. Unlike SoapUI's Java-only approach, you also get web and mobile access options that scale with your team's work patterns and preferences.

Postman supports common SOAP authentication methods like Basic Auth, OAuth, and custom headers. While it doesn't automate WS-Security token generation or certificate management, users can manually add WS-Security headers in requests. For SAML, Postman supports SSO login but requires manual handling in SOAP messages. Its encrypted Vault securely manages credentials locally with strong encryption, reducing security risks compared to SoapUI's local plaintext storage. SoapUI offers more built-in WS-Security tooling, but Postman provides flexible authentication and superior credential security through Vault.

Yes, Postman integrates seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines using the Postman CLI, Newman, and APIs. It enables running collections and tests automatically during builds, providing consistent results across local development and automated environments. Unlike SoapUI’s desktop-bound setup that requires additional configuration, Postman scales easily from individual developer use to enterprise automation, supporting popular CI/CD tools without needing architecture changes.

How does Postman compare to SoapUI's extensibility?

Postman offers extensive extensibility through its API, webhooks, and integrations with popular tools like Jira, Slack, and GitHub, enabling flexible automation and streamlined workflows. While SoapUI supports Groovy scripting for deep customization, Postman's JavaScript-based scripting and cloud-native architecture provide broader integration options that align well with modern development environments.

Can Postman work with our existing SOAP infrastructure?

Absolutely. Postman imports existing WSDL files and integrates with SOAP services without requiring infrastructure changes. You gain modern testing capabilities while maintaining compatibility with existing systems and processes.

Does Postman support SOAP service mocking?

Yes. Postman can create mock SOAP services from WSDL specifications, enabling early testing and stakeholder validation. This capability extends beyond SoapUI's testing focus to support the entire development lifecycle.

Is Postman Free safe for enterprise use?

Postman offers extensive extensibility through its API, webhooks, and integrations with popular tools like Jira, Slack, and GitHub, enabling flexible automation and streamlined workflows. While SoapUI supports Groovy scripting for deep customization, Postman's JavaScript-based scripting and cloud-native architecture provide broader integration options that align well with modern development environments.

Absolutely. Postman's platform is built with a secure-by-design philosophy that security leaders can trust. Our mission is to empower our customers with the controls, visibility, and data ownership necessary to confidently secure their APIs. Our responsibility is to ensure enterprise-grade security is embedded at every layer of the platform.

  • Cloud-first architecture: Postman has chosen a cloud-first architecture because API development is inherently collaborative, spanning teams, departments, and partners. Built on AWS's hardened infrastructure, Postman's cloud-native platform empowers seamless collaboration while ensuring APIs remain performant, resilient, and secure at scale.
  • Integrated throughout the entire development cycle: At Postman, security is integrated throughout the entire development lifecycle. To accomplish this, we work closely with trusted partners like Okta and AWS to enhance our posture across identity, cloud infrastructure, and data protection. Regular third-party penetration testing is conducted against both our cloud platform and endpoint agent to proactively surface vulnerabilities. And, through rigorous, ongoing compliance efforts, we align with global standards to meet the evolving needs of our users—no matter their size or industry.
  • Secrets stay safe: Postman has several methods for managing secrets. It can be done locally through the Postman Local Vault, which will store credentials locally and never syncs them to the cloud, ensuring that even workspace admins and teammates can't access them. The vault clears on sign-out, preventing data from being compromised if your device or account is ever at risk.
  • Proactive scanning: Postman Secret Scanner proactively scans your private and public workspaces, documentation, and GitHub/GitLab repos for exposed secrets. If something sensitive is detected, Postman alerts you immediately. Postman also supports variable masking for risks associated with screen sharing and Postman Local Vault for ensuring credentials don't leave your machine. And before any collection is published or made visible in a public workspace, the Postman Secret Scanner will detect, redact, and notify the admin of any sensitive values such as API tokens, credentials, or private keys.

Learn more about how Postman Free is safe here.

What migration support does Postman provide?

Postman offers comprehensive migration assistance including project imports, training resources, and dedicated support for enterprise customers. Most teams complete SoapUI migrations quickly while immediately benefiting from improved collaboration and reduced operational overhead.

How does Postman's support compare to SoapUI's?

Postman provides dedicated customer success and technical support with enterprise SLAs, compared to SoapUI's community-based support model. Postman Academy and training programs ensure rapid adoption and ongoing success across entire organizations.

What training resources are available?

Postman Academy offers structured learning paths for SOAP testing, API development, and team collaboration. Unlike SoapUI's limited documentation, Postman provides comprehensive resources that accelerate adoption and reduce the learning curve for new team members.

Still have questions?

Talk to our team and see why teams are choosing Postman over SoapUI.

Postman logo in a hexagon shape. Illustration.

Treat APIs like revenue engines.

65% of organizations generate revenue from APIs, and fully API-first orgs are more than 2x as likely to earn 75% or more of revenue from APIs. The 2025 State of the API Report explains how leaders turn APIs into business growth.

Read the report
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