APIs · alternatives
Alternatives to curl
24 apis tools sit alongside curl in this directory. Below is what separates each from curl on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 5
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- curl starts at
- Free
Why people look past curl
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the curl entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
curl publishes a single plan, Open Source at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Open-source Backend as a Service with REST API and SDKs
- Starts $15 a month dearer, at $15/month.
- 2 tiers to curl's 1.
GraphQL engine that instantly creates production-ready GraphQL API from databases
- Starts $5 a month dearer, at $5/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than open-source.
- 3 tiers to curl's 1.
Open-source backend with REST API, real-time subscriptions and Admin UI
Priced and rated the same as curl on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Headless CMS with real-time collaborative editing and structured content APIs
- Starts $15 a month dearer, at $15/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than open-source.
- 3 tiers to curl's 1.
European bank API aggregation with a free restricted production tier for your own accounts
- Sold on a Per connected account per month model rather than open-source.
- 2 tiers to curl's 1.
UK banking-as-a-service from a company that holds its own full banking licence
- No free tier, where curl has one.
- Starts $100 a month dearer, at £100/month.
- Sold on a Per month with usage drawdown model rather than open-source.
- 3 tiers to curl's 1.
Every curl alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| curl (this page) | Free | Open-source | 1 | |
| AppwriteOpen-source Backend as a Service with REST API and SDKs | Free, then $15/month | - | 2 | vs curl |
| HasuraGraphQL engine that instantly creates production-ready GraphQL API from databases | Free, then $5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs curl |
| PocketBaseOpen-source backend with REST API, real-time subscriptions and Admin UI | Free | - | - | vs curl |
| SanityHeadless CMS with real-time collaborative editing and structured content APIs | Free, then $15/month | Freemium | 3 | vs curl |
| Enable Banking | Free | Per connected account per month | 2 | vs curl |
| Griffin | £100/month | Per month with usage drawdown | 3 | vs curl |
| Fintech Farm | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Flybits | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Lithic | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Brite Payments | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| i2c | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Fintecture | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Neonomics | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Enfuce | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Mambu | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Aiia | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Marqeta | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Highnote | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Meniga | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Paymentology | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Ozone API | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Episode Six | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| Backbase | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
| 10x Banking | On request | Quote | 1 | vs curl |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the curl badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (5)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Appwrite , Free, then $15/month
- Hasura , Free, then $5/month
- PocketBase , Free
- Sanity , Free, then $15/month
- Enable Banking , Free
What you would be giving up
curl is most often brought in for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation, microservices. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If curl is broadly right and the question is cost, the curl pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the APIs category lists everything the directory holds, and best apis tools ranks them.
curl runs on linux, macos, windows, unix, mobile. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about curl alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to curl?
- 24 other apis tools are listed in this directory, led by Appwrite, Hasura, PocketBase, Sanity. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to curl?
- 5 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Appwrite, Hasura, PocketBase, Sanity, Enable Banking.
- Why do people look for an alternative to curl?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from curl?
- curl is most often brought in for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation, microservices. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to curl?
- None of the apis tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these curl alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, APIs, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare curl against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against curl covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every apis tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the APIs category, 24 tools beside curl. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.