Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Restfox.dev VS restclient.el

Compare Restfox.dev VS restclient.el and see what are their differences

Restfox.dev logo Restfox.dev

Browser based HTTP client inspired by Insomnia and Postman

restclient.el logo restclient.el

HTTP REST client tool for emacs
  • Restfox.dev Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-26
  • restclient.el Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-23

Restfox.dev features and specs

  • Intuitive Interface
    Restfox.dev provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for developers to interact with and test APIs. The design is streamlined to enhance user experience, reducing the learning curve for new users.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Restfox.dev is accessible on various platforms, including web and desktop applications, allowing developers the flexibility to use the tool on different devices and operating systems.
  • Comprehensive Feature Set
    The tool offers a wide range of features such as request history, environment variables, and customizable settings, providing developers with advanced capabilities to manage API testing more efficiently.
  • Responsive Support
    Restfox.dev is known for its responsive customer support, with an active development team that prioritizes user feedback and regularly updates the tool with new features and improvements.

Possible disadvantages of Restfox.dev

  • Limited Free Tier
    While Restfox.dev does offer a free version, some advanced features are locked behind a paid subscription, which might be a limitation for developers or small teams looking for a full-fledged free solution.
  • Dependency on Internet Connectivity
    The web version of Restfox.dev requires a stable internet connection to operate, which might be a limitation for users who prefer offline access or encounter connectivity issues.
  • Steep Pricing for Premium Features
    The premium subscription required to access some of the advanced features might be considered expensive, especially for individual developers or startups with limited budgets.
  • Lack of Community Forums
    Unlike some competitor tools, Restfox.dev lacks a robust community forum for users to share tips, solutions, and best practices, which might limit community-driven support and resource sharing.

restclient.el features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    restclient.el allows users to interact with RESTful services from within Emacs, leveraging familiar keybindings and UI, which simplifies the learning curve for Emacs users.
  • Integration with Emacs
    As an Emacs package, it integrates seamlessly with other Emacs features and workflows, such as Org mode for documentation or Magit for version control.
  • Lightweight
    Being an Emacs package, it is relatively lightweight compared to full-fledged GUI REST clients, offering quick installation and minimal resource consumption.
  • Scripting Capabilities
    Users can script and automate their HTTP requests, leveraging Emacs Lisp, which can be more powerful than traditional GUI-based REST clients.

Possible disadvantages of restclient.el

  • Emacs Dependency
    Since it runs within Emacs, users who are not familiar with Emacs might find the setup and usage more challenging compared to standalone applications.
  • Limited Features Compared to GUI Tools
    Compared to dedicated GUI tools like Postman, restclient.el lacks advanced features such as a comprehensive GUI, response visualization, and environment management.
  • Steeper Learning Curve for Non-Emacs Users
    For users not already familiar with Emacs, the need to learn Emacs conventions and keybindings can pose an additional barrier.
  • Less Intuitive for Large API Testing
    Organizing and managing large sets of API endpoints and tests might be less intuitive without a graphical interface or built-in management features.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Restfox.dev and restclient.el)
Developer Tools
52 52%
48% 48
API Tools
49 49%
51% 51
APIs
56 56%
44% 44
HTTP
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Restfox.dev might be a bit more popular than restclient.el. We know about 7 links to it since March 2021 and only 6 links to restclient.el. 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.

Restfox.dev mentions (7)

  • These 20 Awesome API Clients Will Change How You Work with APIs
    Restfox is an offline-first web-based HTTP client with a design inspired by Firefox DevTools. Itโ€™s minimal and designed for speed and privacy. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Yaak 2.0 โ€“ Git, WebSockets, OAuth, and More
    A lot of cool features. I would pay a one time license fee, but not a monthly reoccurring fee for something like this. Currently I am using Restfox. It's entirely free and local/offline friendly. [1]: https://restfox.dev/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Bruno
    I personally enjoy using restfox, OSS and in browser, it does the job well. * web app: https://restfox.dev/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • The Collaborative API Development Platform โ€“ Insomnia
    Https://restfox.dev/ is a great open source, free alternative. You can self host it, import Insomnia project files, etc. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Bruno: Open-Source IDE for Exploring and Testing APIs
    I'm pretty sure restfox (https://restfox.dev) was shared on HN before. Very similar to postman. https://github.com/flawiddsouza/Restfox. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
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restclient.el mentions (6)

  • Emacs Advent Calendar 9: devdocs, code-cells, dREPL, etc.
    Plz-see: Interactive HTTP client, similar to restclient and verb, but using Elisp instead of a special text-based syntax. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Hurl 4.0.0
    Emacs enthusiasts have https://github.com/pashky/restclient.el I see some parallels to Hurl, but having everything inside Emacs is hard to beat, just thinking about using M-x jq-interactivly for json responses ... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Hurl, run and test HTTP requests with plain text
    I recently switch from custom Bash wrappers around curl to restclient.el [1]. It has similar features. Especially nice is the integration with jq for fetching specific data (or inspection of results with jq-mode). And, whoever is inclined to appreciate it, the fact that I can stay within Emacs. No need to get familiar with a new UI/UX. [1]: https://github.com/pashky/restclient.el. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Show HN: Restfox โ€“ A web based HTTP client inspired by Insomnia and Postman
    Although I mainly stick with curl or requests due to muscle memory, there's also restclient.el https://github.com/pashky/restclient.el. I imagine having builtin org support is super convenient, thanks for sharing. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Which IDE/Editor is Your Daily driver?
    Right now I am writing a document in org-mode (human readable) and with a bit of help from org-ql I am converting it into json for API consumption, which I am also testing with resclient.el. Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Restfox.dev and restclient.el, you can also consider the following products

Hoppscotch - Open source API development ecosystem

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

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Step CI - API Testing and Monitoring made simple

RecipeUI - Open source type-safe Postman alternative

RapidAPI for Mac - Paw is a REST client for Mac.