Milkman – The Better Alternative to Postman

(milkman.dev)

45 points | by jplunien 2 hours ago

19 comments

  • biinjo 18 minutes ago
    We are in an age where it’s easier to vibe code your own alternative than to do a quick internet search to check if an alternative already exists.
    • bleuarff 8 minutes ago
      What a wonderful usage of resources.
  • urig 1 hour ago
    For a Postman-like experience, I prefer Bruno: https://github.com/usebruno/bruno (not affiliated)
    • CatMustard 1 hour ago
      Never used milkman so can't say if it's better, but +1 for Bruno.

      1. Very similar UX to postman (just minus the bullshit), so a very easy transition.

      2. It's FOSS*

      3. Most importantly of all, it has a cute dog logo.

      * oof, just saw this on another comment: https://royathan.com/blog/the-api-client-hunt/

      • Kinrany 1 hour ago
        The Hurl file format seems good, any new FOSS replacements should probably build on top
  • ivanjermakov 4 minutes ago
    > New features regularly. There are more and more plugins/features coming.

    Why all software needs to constantly evolve and grow with features? This is how you end up with what Postman has become.

  • zabij 1 hour ago
    - I got sick of all those electron-based applications - I created a JavaFx-based workbench

    Oh boi

    • asdfsa32 1 hour ago
      Modern JavaFX isn't your grandparents JavaFX, in fact, modern Java isn't your grandpa's Java.
  • gosen 1 hour ago
    The UI looks a bit outdated, it gives me vibes of some old software from 2000s somehow (probably because of the Java). And it would be really helpful to clearly state benefits of using Milkman instead of Postman right on the home page (e.g. performance benchmarks, UX, extendability, etc.). I see that it has some users and 1.3k stars so there're definitely some cool things in Milkman, probably you could just present them better
    • dkdbejwi383 58 minutes ago
      Both the application UI and website are giving open source option from 2008
    • kjmr 1 hour ago
      It looks like a windows app running on macOS.
  • upmostly 1 hour ago
    Are API testing UIs really relevant anymore? I haven't manually tested an API for almost two years, and my APIs are SO much better. This kind of GUI is going to die over the next 5 years.

    Postman should be seriously worried.

    • Mashimo 1 hour ago
      > Are API testing UIs really relevant anymore?

      We have a postman collection mainly for testers to manually verify certain aspect of a otherwise fairly unit and end-to-end test covered API.

      • mkesper 33 minutes ago
        Export to curl?
        • Mashimo 5 minutes ago
          They are testers, not devs. They don't know how to use command line, or edit environment variables.
    • rs_rs_rs_rs_rs 1 hour ago
      I'm thinking the same thing, I haven't have a need for a tool like Postman in a long time, prompting is enough at this point. I wonder what features others use from Postman that an agent can't do quickly.
      • ihavesomeexampl 52 minutes ago
        Quickly eye-balling onprem responses, skipping over UIs and just eyeballing data in general is really useful. Curl can do it but with a couple headers it becomes messy, also RPCs, websockets, etc. It’s just convenient to have a single place where you can eyeball all comms.
    • vr46 1 hour ago
      You're not wrong - I bought a Bruno "Golden Edition" for $9 two years ago pre-release... and... I just don't use it. I'm not even sure why I keep it around, at 524.5 MB

      ...and... it's gone

      • upmostly 1 hour ago
        That's an interesting point. I wonder if over the next X years consumers will free up ALOT of disk space by just using agents and not needing to download and install desktop software.

        Full disclosure, I'm building a desktop app called DB Pro [1] which is a modern desktop database client.

        We're still doing well, and selling a lot, but we're having to think about what the next 2/3/4/5 years look like...

        [1] https://dbpro.app

        • ethbr1 12 minutes ago
          > if over the next X years consumers will free up ALOT of disk space by just using agents and not needing to download and install desktop software

          Trading bits you own for rented redundant compute to recreate same seems... suboptimal?

          How much power should we burn on everyone's agent recreating curl?*

          * yes, agents have tools, but what is and isn't an agent tool is a gray area. "Desktop software" could be an agent tool with a human UI.

        • Muromec 30 minutes ago
          You will own nothing and be happy they said
  • hobo123 18 minutes ago
    By the time I decided I should maybe try postman, I was absolutely turned off that it wants you to setup an account (for what?).

    Went with Insomnia instead (which IIRC also wants an account now?) and now just some text-mode VSCode http client.

  • Jackson98Tom 1 hour ago
    Have you ever heard about Bruno?
    • x3ro 1 hour ago
      Came here to say this. While not perfect, Bruno is certainly the best tool in this category that I have used :)
  • sumedh 1 hour ago
    Looking at such ugly UI breaks my heart :(
  • jplunien 2 hours ago
  • Offirmo 2 hours ago
    What is better than the existing, established alternatives https://www.usebruno.com/ and https://insomnia.rest/ ?
  • shaaaade 36 minutes ago
    I wish the milkman would deliver my milk... In the morning...
    • fbnlsr 34 minutes ago
      You have so many machines Richard
  • herpderperator 1 hour ago
    The author appears to be suggesting that a key difference between Bruno and Insomnia is that Milkman not written in JavaScript/Electron, but rather JavaFx (i.e., Java) and thus is faster.
  • manveerc 1 hour ago
    What’s next garbageman?

    Jokes aside, why is it better?

  • 7734128 1 hour ago
    Your GUI screenshots are squished on mobile. Stretched vertically.
  • dankobgd 12 minutes ago
    i hate this more than electron
  • elAhmo 13 minutes ago
    Yet another Postman alternative...
  • akshit-bansal11 1 hour ago
    [dead]
  • OhNoNotAgain_99 1 hour ago
    [dead]