Bruno vs Keploy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bruno | Keploy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47,149 | ★ 18,479 |
| First released | 2023 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Postman, Insomnia | Postman |
What are Bruno and Keploy?
Bruno
Bruno is an open-source API client that stores collections as plain text files in your filesystem, making them version-controllable with Git. It runs fully offline as a desktop application.
- Git-friendly plain-text collections
- Fully offline operation
- No account required
- Scripting and assertions
Keploy
Keploy is an open-source testing toolkit that records API calls and database interactions to automatically generate test cases and data mocks. It is self-hosted as a CLI and server for backend testing.
- Tests from real traffic
- Auto-generated mocks
- CI integration
- No code changes needed
Bruno vs Keploy: key differences
Bruno is written in JavaScript, while Keploy is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Bruno versus Apache-2.0 for Keploy. Bruno has the considerably larger community, at 47,149 GitHub stars versus 18,479. Keploy lists first-class Docker deployment; Bruno does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Bruno if…
- Git-friendly text collections
- Fully offline, no account
- Lightweight and fast
Watch out for
- Some features paid
- No built-in cloud sync
Choose Keploy if…
- Tests from real traffic
- Automatic mock generation
- CI-friendly CLI
Watch out for
- Linux-centric capture
- Setup varies per stack
Frequently asked questions
Is Bruno or Keploy better?
Bruno is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Keploy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Bruno and Keploy free and open-source?
Yes. Bruno is licensed under MIT and Keploy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bruno and Keploy with Docker?
Bruno: check the project docs for container support. Keploy: yes.