Hurl vs OpenReq

Hurl is a command-line tool for running HTTP requests written in a plain-text format. It can fetch data or test HTTP sessions, including flows where later requests use values captured earlier. It can evaluate queries against response headers and bodies. Hurl works with HTML, REST, SOAP, GraphQL, XML, and JSON APIs, and examples cover assertions for status, headers, cookies, XPath, JSONPath, response duration, and SHA-256 body hashes. For CI/CD, it can produce text, JUnit, TAP, and HTML reports; its documentation covers GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD. The lightweight binary is written in Rust, with an HTTP engine powered by libcurl. Installation options include binaries or packages for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as Docker, Cargo, conda-forge, and npm. The precompiled Linux binary requires libc 2.35 or newer. Windows installation requires a separately installed Visual C++ Redistributable Package. Hurl is free under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

OpenReq is a free, community-driven API testing application released under the MIT License. It runs as a self-hosted web application, a standalone desktop application, and a Windows client. HTTP, WebSocket, and GraphQL requests are supported as first-class request types, with visual test flows, collection runs, assertions, scripts, delays, conditions, loops, and reports. Automated test runs and API documentation are included, and API testing has no stated usage limits. Collections can become read-only public documentation links, optionally protected by passwords; viewers do not need accounts. OpenReq generates request code for cURL, Python, JavaScript, Go, Java, C#, and PHP. Integrations include Ollama, Postman, OpenAPI, raw cURL, Chrome, and Electron. Ollama can provide local AI features without a cloud API key or sending data away from the machine. The Windows desktop client is frontend-only and needs a separately hosted backend. Most endpoints use JWT bearer authentication, while local proxy setup uses HMAC-signed tokens.