PorticolPostman alternatives with local storage
An API client holds your tokens, internal hostnames and test data. One that keeps them on your computer works on a plane, keeps working through the vendor's outage, and never puts customer data in someone else's cloud.
What to look for
- Collections, environments and history stored on your computer, not only in the vendor's cloud.
- Requests that go straight from your machine to your APIs.
- Sync that you turn on, rather than sync you can't turn off.
The 6 best Postman alternatives with local storage
Porticol
Best for: People leaving Postman who want the same scripts, local storage and an MCP server.
Yes, in one SQLite file on your computer1
Free for one seat; Pro $5, Enterprise $10 a seat a month.
Porticol keeps every collection, environment and history entry in one SQLite file on your computer. Sign in once with a free account and the app works offline, checking the account at least every 30 days; nothing is uploaded until you turn on sync or share a collection.
Insomnia
Best for: Teams who want a local vault with optional cloud sync.
Yes, in a Local Vault2
Essentials is free; Git Sync for up to three users; Pro $12, Enterprise $45 a user a month.
Bruno
Best for: People who never want to sign in.
Yes, in a folder on your filesystem3
The open source edition is free, with two workspaces and public Git providers; Pro $6, Ultimate $11 a user a month, billed annually.
Yaak
Best for: Personal projects on a fast, offline-first app.
Yes, offline-first4
Free for personal use; a licence is needed at work; Individual $79 a year or $399 once; Business $149 a user a year.
Hoppscotch
Best for: People who want a free client in a browser.
Yes, in local session storage or the desktop app5
Free, with a personal workspace and the collection runner; Business $6, Enterprise $11 a user a month, billed annually.
Thunder Client
Best for: People who test APIs inside their editor.
Yes, on your device6
Free for three collections of up to 30 requests; Starter $3, Business $7, Enterprise $16 a user a month, billed annually.
Only partly, or not at all
- Apidog: In an Offline Space in the desktop app7
Where Postman stands
Workspaces live in Postman Cloud; the lightweight client keeps its own work locally.8 Checked against Postman's own pages on 20 Oct 2026; see Porticol vs Postman.
Questions
Which Postman alternatives keep collections on your computer?
Porticol, Insomnia, Bruno, Yaak, Hoppscotch and Thunder Client. Porticol: Yes, in one SQLite file on your computer. Insomnia: Yes, in a Local Vault. Bruno: Yes, in a folder on your filesystem. Yaak: Yes, offline-first. Hoppscotch: Yes, in local session storage or the desktop app. Thunder Client: Yes, on your device.
Does Postman keep collections on your computer?
Workspaces live in Postman Cloud; the lightweight client keeps its own work locally, as Postman's own pages said on 20 Oct 2026.
Is a local-first API client safe for company data?
Safer than a cloud workspace for most teams: tokens and responses never leave the computer unless you sync or share them. In Porticol, secret values are kept in the system keychain and masked in history.
Try Porticol free
Free for one seat on macOS, Windows and Linux. Import your Postman collections in one step.
Sources
- porticol.app/docs/faq
- github.com/Kong/insomnia
- github.com/usebruno/bruno
- github.com/mountain-loop/yaak
- github.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch
- docs.thunderclient.com/get-started
- apidog.com/blog/best-offline-api-client/
- learning.postman.com/docs/getting-started/basics/using-api-client/