Apidog vs Karate
Apidog
apidog.com
Karate
karatelabs.ioSide by side
| Figure | Apidog | Karate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $9/mo | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 5 |
| Spec score · API Testing Tools | 9.5 (#1) | 9.1 (#4) |
| Documentation depth | The Learning Center includes getting started tutorials, API design, debugging, testing, mocking, publishing, CLI, administration, billing and on-premises sections. | Documentation covers installation, CLI, Maven, Gradle, standalone JAR, syntax, HTTP, assertions, parallel execution, Java API, databases, WebSocket, MQ, UI and performance testing. |
| License | Apidog is proprietary commercial software; its CLI package is proprietary and requires an Apidog account for normal use. | The core Karate framework is MIT licensed and free forever; enterprise components use a commercial license. |
| Protocols | Documentation lists support for HTTP, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SOAP and SSE requests. | Async integrations include Kafka, gRPC, WebSocket, ActiveMQ and RabbitMQ. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.8 out of 5 from 231 reviews. | 4.4 out of 5 from 6 reviews |
| Security | Apidog says it uses AWS hosting, access controls, and encryption, and describes TLS 1.3 encryption for data in transit on its security measures page. | Karate Labs says its products run locally or in customer infrastructure, store no customer test data, and ship with zero telemetry. |
| Self-hosting | Apidog offers an on-premises edition and documents deployment of its web interface on customer infrastructure. | The vendor states that products run on customer infrastructure, support air-gapped deployment and make no outbound calls. |
| What it does | Apidog combines API design, debugging, mocking, automated testing and documentation in one platform. | Karate combines API, UI, mock, contract and performance testing in one Gherkin-style framework. |
Plans
Apidog
- FreeFree
- Basic$9 a month
- Professional$18 a month
- Enterprise$324 a year
- FreeFree
- Basic$9 a month
- Professional$18 a month
- Enterprise$27 a month
- Enterprise$27 a month
- On-premisesPriced on request
Karate
- FreeFree
- IDE Plus$100 a year
- Xplorer Premium$200 a year
- Pro$640 a year
- Karate EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Apidog
Apidog is an API platform for designing, debugging, mocking, testing, and documenting APIs, with GraphQL and SOAP support. Its specification-led workflow can generate request parameters, body content, and mock data, then check responses against specifications. For automated testing, users can arrange request sequences, add assertions, extract variables, and save requests as endpoint cases. It imports Postman data and supports Postman scripts. Database operations include MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and Oracle on Free; ClickHouse, MongoDB, and Redis are listed for paid tiers. The CLI can connect to Jenkins, GitHub, and GitLab, and activity notifications can go to Slack or webhook-compatible tools. Deployment choices include Global and Europe SaaS services and an on-premises option hosted on customer servers. Apidog says desktop requests travel directly from the user's computer to the target server, not through Apidog servers. The free plan is time-unlimited for four users; paid plans start at $9/user/mo (annual), with a 14-day trial.
Karate
Karate is a testing framework for API, UI, mock, and performance work. Its MIT-licensed core is free for commercial projects and supports REST, GraphQL, and SOAP testing, with JSON and XML assertions and schema validation. It can automate browsers and desktop apps, and combine UI and API steps in one test. Built-in Gatling integration lets teams reuse API tests for performance testing. The Free plan costs nothing and includes community support. Paid plans include IDE Plus at $100 a year, Xplorer Premium at $200 a year, and Pro at $640 a year; Pro adds IDE plugins, debugging, enhanced autocomplete, development async protocol testing, and priority email support. The platform lists integrations including AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Maven, Gradle, Docker, IntelliJ, VS Code, and Gatling. Enterprise async protocol testing covers Kafka, gRPC, and WebSocket, but production CI/CD execution requires an Enterprise runtime license. Platforms include API, extension, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, and Windows.