Hurl vs Swagger UI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Hurl
Run and test HTTP requests with a plain text format
VS
Swagger UI
Interactive documentation for OpenAPI specifications
| Feature | Hurl | Swagger UI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,131 | ★ 28,959 |
| First released | 2020 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Postman, Insomnia | Postman |
Why pick each one
Choose Hurl if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 19.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Choose Swagger UI if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 29k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Hurl or Swagger UI better?
Neither is universally better. Swagger UI has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hurl and Swagger UI free and open-source?
Yes. Hurl is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Swagger UI under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hurl and Swagger UI with Docker?
Hurl: check the project docs for container support. Swagger UI: yes.