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Postman VS Visual Studio App Center

Compare Postman VS Visual Studio App Center and see what are their differences

Postman logo Postman

The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Visual Studio App Center logo Visual Studio App Center

Continuous everything – build, test, deploy, engage, repeat
  • Postman Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-23
  • Visual Studio App Center Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-24

Postman features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Postman features an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of constructing API requests and visualizing responses. This makes it accessible for both beginners and advanced users.
  • Collaboration
    Postman offers robust collaboration features, such as shared workspaces, collections, and real-time editing, enabling teams to work together more efficiently on API development.
  • Comprehensive Testing Tools
    Postman provides a suite of testing tools to create, automate, and manage test cases. It supports automated testing through its scripting environments, which ensure APIs perform as expected.
  • Extensive API Documentation
    Postman can automatically generate comprehensive API documentation, making it easier to maintain and share API specifications with stakeholders and other developers.
  • Mock Servers
    Postman allows users to create mock servers to simulate API responses. This is particularly useful for testing and development purposes when the actual API is not yet available.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Postman offers integrations with various CI/CD tools, version control systems, and other services like Jenkins, GitHub, and Slack, facilitating seamless integration into development workflows.

Possible disadvantages of Postman

  • Resource Intensive
    Postman can sometimes be resource-intensive, consuming substantial memory and CPU, which can impact the performance of your system, especially when dealing with large collections.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While Postman is generally user-friendly, some of its advanced features, like scripting and automation, can have a steep learning curve and might require additional effort to master.
  • Pricing
    Although Postman offers a free tier, many of its advanced features, such as enhanced collaboration tools and extended integrations, are locked behind paid plans, which may not be cost-effective for smaller teams or individual developers.
  • Dependency on Internet
    Some of Postman's features, particularly those related to collaboration and synchronization, require a stable internet connection, which can be a limitation in environments with poor connectivity.
  • Limited Native Support for Certain Protocols
    Postman primarily focuses on HTTP/HTTPS protocols and may offer limited or no native support for other protocols, which can be restricting for developers working with diverse sets of technologies.

Visual Studio App Center features and specs

  • Comprehensive Services
    App Center provides a wide range of services including build, test, distribute, and monitor apps, making it a one-stop solution for app lifecycle management.
  • Multi-platform Support
    Supports iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS apps, allowing developers to manage all their apps in one place regardless of the platform.
  • Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
    Offers robust CI/CD pipelines that streamline the development process, helping teams release new features, updates, and bug fixes more efficiently.
  • Automated Testing
    Enables automated UI tests on real devices in the cloud, ensuring that apps function correctly on any device before they are released.
  • Crash Reporting and Analytics
    Provides detailed crash reports and user analytics to help developers understand user behavior and improve app performance.
  • Easy Integration
    Integrates seamlessly with popular version control systems like GitHub, Bitbucket, and Azure Repos, simplifying the workflow for developers.
  • Push Notifications
    Supports sending push notifications to users, helping app owners keep their audience engaged with the latest updates and features.

Possible disadvantages of Visual Studio App Center

  • Cost
    While there is a free tier with limited usage, many advanced features require a paid subscription, which can be expensive for small teams or individual developers.
  • Learning Curve
    Though the platform is powerful, it can have a steep learning curve for new users, especially those not familiar with CI/CD practices.
  • Performance
    Some users have reported performance issues, particularly with the build service, which can sometimes be slow or experience downtime.
  • Limited Customization
    The level of customization for certain features and workflows can be limited compared to other CI/CD tools, potentially restricting advanced users.
  • Platform-specific Limitations
    While multi-platform support is a pro, some advanced features might not be available for all platforms or might work differently, causing inconsistency.
  • Dependency on Microsoft Ecosystem
    Tightly integrated with Microsoft's ecosystem, which might not be ideal for teams using other toolchains and platforms, causing partial or complete lock-in.

Analysis of Postman

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Postman is widely regarded as a good tool for API development and testing. Its combination of powerful features and ease of use makes it a popular choice among developers.

Why this product is good

  • Postman is considered a top choice for API development due to its user-friendly interface, extensive features for testing, automation, and collaboration, and strong community support. It simplifies the process of creating, managing, and testing APIs, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced developers.

Recommended for

  • Developers working on API integration
  • QA engineers involved in testing APIs
  • Teams in need of collaborative API development
  • Developers looking to automate API testing
  • Individuals looking for a comprehensive API testing tool

Analysis of Visual Studio App Center

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Visual Studio App Center is a robust platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for mobile app development. Its integration with existing development workflows and extensive support across multiple platforms makes it a good choice for developers looking to enhance productivity and efficiency in their app development process.

Why this product is good

  • Visual Studio App Center is considered good because it offers a wide range of features that help developers streamline their mobile app development processes. It provides an all-in-one service for continuous integration, delivery, and testing. App Center supports building apps in different platforms like iOS, Android, and Windows, and integrates seamlessly with various version control systems such as GitHub, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps. Additionally, it offers features like automated UI testing, real-time analytics, and crash reporting, which aid in improving app quality and user experience.

Recommended for

    Visual Studio App Center is recommended for mobile app developers who require a scalable solution for continuous integration, delivery, and testing. It's particularly useful for teams that develop cross-platform applications and need a unified platform to manage builds, distributions, and monitoring. Developers who are already using Microsoft's ecosystem or those who prefer a cloud-based development environment will find App Center to be especially beneficial.

Postman videos

POST/CON 2018 workshop in review: Running Postman Collections

More videos:

  • Review - POST/CON 2018 workshop in review: Postman Collections
  • Tutorial - How to Share Postman Collections

Visual Studio App Center videos

Visual Studio App Center

More videos:

  • Review - Xamarin University Presents: Ship Better Apps with Visual Studio App Center
  • Tutorial - How to upload a Xamarin.UITest to Visual Studio App Center!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Postman and Visual Studio App Center)
API Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
87 87%
13% 13
APIs
100 100%
0% 0
IDE
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Postman and Visual Studio App Center

Postman Reviews

Top 20 Open Source & Cloud Free Postman Alternatives (2024 Updated)
As the digital landscape evolves, the significance of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) has surged, facilitating seamless communication between various software applications. Postman has been a leading tool in this space, offering a comprehensive platform for API development, testing, and documentation. However, recent shifts in its pricing model and user experience...
Source: medium.com
Best Postman Alternatives To Consider in 2025
- Focus on specific needs: Does the tool excel at SOAP APIs or cater to microservices? - Resource usage: Does it handle complex projects without impacting system performance? - Script reusability: Does it allow for efficient code sharing across projects?3. Is Postman the best API tool?Not all-encompassing. While Postman is powerful, the "best" tool depends on your specific...
Postman Alternatives for API Testing and Monitoring
Some engineers turn to Postman for API testing and monitoring needs. However, Postman is a costly and limited solution. QA, DevOps and other engineers may find it lacks capabilities that can answer their needs. In this blog post, we provide 12 Postman alternatives built for the enterprise.
Beeceptor vs Postman
You cannot download request log. Although, you can use Postman APIs to query and retrieve.
Source: beeceptor.com
Top 15 MuleSoft Competitors and Alternatives
Postman is an API platform with the world’s largest public API hub that helps developers design, build, test, and iterate APIs. In 2022, Postman served over 20 million developers and 500,000 organizations.

Visual Studio App Center Reviews

We have no reviews of Visual Studio App Center yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Postman might be a bit more popular than Visual Studio App Center. We know about 30 links to it since March 2021 and only 24 links to Visual Studio App Center. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Postman mentions (30)

  • Best API Mocking Platforms in 2024
    Postman (postman.com) is a comprehensive API platform that goes beyond mocking, offering a full suite for API development, testing, and monitoring. With its mock server feature, Postman enables teams to simulate responses for various endpoints, making it a popular choice for end-to-end API management. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • 10 Best API Mocking Tools (2024 Review)
    Postman is a widely used tool for API testing and interaction. Its "Mock Servers" feature lets you create a mock version of your API, returning specific responses for testing. While useful, Postman may lack advanced mock server management features compared to other tools. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • The 3 Best Tools for API Design for Software Architects
    Postman is a widely adopted tool for API design and development, offering an intuitive interface for creating, testing, and documenting APIs. It simplifies the API design process, allowing architects to quickly prototype and refine their designs. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • How to use ApyHub to Build a Serverless Function in NodeJs?
    Once deployed, thoroughly test your serverless function to confirm it behaves as expected. Invoke the function manually from the cloud platform’s console or use tools like Postman, Apidog, or Fusion ( Fusion is ApyHub’s own API Client ) to test HTTP-triggered functions. Ensure the function executes correctly and handles errors gracefully. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Mastering Microservices: A Hands-On Tutorial with Node.js, RabbitMQ, Nginx, and Docker
    To test the API endpoints, you can use Postman. Download and install Postman from Postman's official website. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Visual Studio App Center mentions (24)

  • Build for IOS
    Appcenter will allow you to build your app for iOS and install on your device without submitting to the App Store. https://appcenter.ms/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Github file size limits
    We've been using app center for build distribution (https://appcenter.ms/). Source: about 2 years ago
  • A friend and I have spent way too much time sharing builds so we built this free tool!
    But, https://appcenter.ms/ and others like it are already available with generous free tiers and a lot more features (which you don't have to use, but can grow into), not to mention GitHub actions as others have noted. Does this advantages over existing, standard solutions? Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is there a service to let us run our app remotely on chosen hardware and monitor logging?
    There are lots of choices. Google android device testing. Offhand https://appcenter.ms comes to mind. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Using React Native for a cross-platform app, without a Mac
    You don t need a mac, use microsofts app center to build it. https://appcenter.ms. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Postman and Visual Studio App Center, you can also consider the following products

Insomnia REST - Design, debug, test, and mock APIs locally, on Git, or cloud. Build better APIs collaboratively for the most popular protocols with a dev‑friendly UI, built-in automation, and an extensible plugin ecosystem.

TestFlight - iOS beta testing on the fly.

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform - Anypoint Platform is a unified, highly productive, hybrid integration platform that creates an application network of apps, data and devices with API-led connectivity.

Applivery - Mobile Apps distribution system for Continuous deployment, Beta testing, Feedback, Bug reporting & Enterprise App distribution.

DreamFactory - DreamFactory is an API management platform used to generate, secure, document, and extend APIs.

Buildstash - Binary build artifact and release management for software teams. For mobile and desktop apps, games, XR, or embedded - never lose a build again, steer through QA and sign-off, and manage your rollouts to stores.