HTTPie vs jq
HTTPie
httpie.iojq
jqlang.orgSide by side
| Figure | HTTPie | jq |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $10/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Cli Tools | 8.9 (#1) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Spec score · Command Line Tools | 8.8 (#2) | 8.5 (#6) |
| Desktop platforms | The dedicated desktop app is available for macOS, Windows and Linux, while the equivalent web app runs in browsers. | Official standalone executables are available for Linux, macOS and Windows. |
| License | The HTTPie CLI is released under the BSD-3-Clause license. | jq code is licensed under the MIT license, while its documentation is licensed under CC-BY-3.0. |
| Purpose | HTTPie is an API testing client designed to make API interactions simple and intuitive. | jq is a lightweight, flexible command-line JSON processor for slicing, filtering, mapping, and transforming structured data. |
| Support | The CLI project directs users to documentation, Discord, Twitter, Stack Overflow, and GitHub Issues for questions, discussions, and bug reports. | The project points users to Stack Overflow, the #jq Libera.Chat channel, and its Discord server for questions and discussion. |
Plans
HTTPie
- HTTPie for TerminalFree
- HTTPie for TerminalFree
- HTTPie for Web & DesktopFree
- Open SourceFree
- HTTPie for Web$10 a month
In their own words
HTTPie
HTTPie is an API testing client with a command-line tool and a graphical app for desktop and web. HTTPie for Terminal helps test and debug APIs, HTTP servers, and web services. Its features include expressive syntax, JSON, formatted and colorized output, persistent sessions, forms, file uploads and downloads, HTTPS, proxies, authentication, and custom request data and headers. GraphQL is supported. The Desktop and Web app includes AI-assisted work, spaces, collections, tabs, variables, environments, request previews, and autosave with realtime sync across devices. It can be used offline without an account, so requests can be prepared and previewed without sending them. Dedicated desktop versions are available for Mac, Windows, and Linux; Mac downloads cover Intel and Apple Silicon. The maker lists CLI installation options for any operating system. HTTPie for Web & Desktop is in public beta, and HTTPie for Terminal is an open-source CLI client. Both plans are listed at free.
jq
jq is a free command-line processor for selecting and transforming JSON data. A jq filter takes an input and produces output; filters can be combined to access nested attributes, construct objects, gather results into arrays, or make other transformations. It reads whitespace-separated JSON values and writes serialized results separated by whitespace. Each expression runs on each input value and may produce zero or more outputs. For very large inputs, the --stream option parses incrementally. Output options include compact, raw, ASCII, sorted-key, and colored forms. Written in portable C, jq has no runtime dependencies, and a standalone binary can be copied to another machine of the same type. Standalone executables are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with packages listed for Linux distributions and package managers including Homebrew, MacPorts, winget, Scoop, and Chocolatey. A Docker image is also available. Release binaries have SHA-256 checksums, and signed release artifacts use jq release keys. The code is licensed under MIT; the documentation uses CC-BY-3.0.