REST clients for API testing

When developing an RESTful API, I naturally want to test it before releasing it into the wild. The code sure needs testing, and so does the endpoint itself. In this article I focus on the manual testing tools to test the API endpoint.

Same goes when I am consuming an API in my application. Before starting to integrate an external or internal API to my actual application, I like to test the API against the sometimes varying quality specifications.

This is where a good REST client comes in handy. Here are some of the tools which I have been using, and think will serve you well too.

Postman is a Google Chrome App so it will work within the browser. I find Postman a good starting point for RESTful API testing.

JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA is a full-blown development IDE and has an integrated REST client, which I find handy, since I write most of my code with IntelliJ IDEA. Same client is available e.g. in JetBrains’ WebStorm IDE.

Paw is a native OS X desktop app. As a stand-alone tool, I find myself using Paw the most out of these. Great usability and features with visually appealing GUI.

Happy testing! Oh, and should you have any good additional tools, please share in the comments!