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Amazon API Gateway vs Postman: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Amazon API Gateway and Postman. Both Amazon API Gateway and Postman are widely used tools in the field of API development and testing. However, there are several distinct differences between the two that are worth noting.
Integration with AWS Services: Amazon API Gateway provides seamless integration with other AWS services, allowing developers to easily connect their APIs with services such as AWS Lambda, AWS DynamoDB, and more. On the other hand, Postman does not have direct integration with AWS services and may require additional custom coding to achieve similar functionality.
API Documentation and Collaboration: Amazon API Gateway offers built-in documentation tools that allow developers to easily create and publish API documentation. It also provides collaboration features that enable multiple team members to work on the API documentation. In contrast, while Postman does offer API documentation, it may not have the same level of flexibility and collaboration features as Amazon API Gateway.
API Gateway Management: Amazon API Gateway provides a comprehensive API management platform that allows developers to manage APIs, including versioning, monitoring, and access control. It also offers features like caching and throttling to optimize API performance. In comparison, Postman primarily focuses on API testing and lacks some of the advanced management capabilities provided by Amazon API Gateway.
Security and Authentication: Amazon API Gateway offers various authentication methods, including AWS Signature Version 4, API keys, and OAuth, to secure APIs. It also provides options for controlling access to APIs using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies. On the other hand, while Postman does provide some authentication options, it may not have the same level of security features as Amazon API Gateway.
Scalability and High Availability: Amazon API Gateway is designed to scale automatically and handle high volumes of incoming traffic. It also offers built-in features like built-in caching and content delivery network (CDN) integration to improve API performance. In contrast, while Postman can handle a certain level of load, it may not have the same scalability and high availability features as Amazon API Gateway.
Cost and Pricing Model: Amazon API Gateway has a pricing model based on the number of API calls, data transfer, and additional features. The cost can vary depending on the usage and scale of the APIs. On the other hand, Postman offers different pricing plans based on the features and functionality required, which may be more suitable for individual developers or smaller teams.
In summary, Amazon API Gateway provides seamless integration with AWS services, advanced management capabilities, and robust security features. On the other hand, Postman primarily focuses on API testing and may not have the same level of integration, management, and scalability features as Amazon API Gateway.
From a StackShare Community member: "I just started working for a start-up and we are in desperate need of better documentation for our API. Currently our API docs is in a README.md file. We are evaluating Postman and Swagger UI. Since there are many options and I was wondering what other StackSharers would recommend?"
I use Postman because of the ease of team-management, using workspaces and teams, runner, collections, environment variables, test-scripts (post execution), variable management (pre and post execution), folders (inside collections, for better management of APIs), newman, easy-ci-integration (and probably a few more things that I am not able to recall right now).
I use Swagger UI because it's an easy tool for end-consumers to visualize and test our APIs. It focuses on that ! And it's directly embedded and delivered with the APIs. Postman's built-in tools aren't bad, but their main focus isn't the documentation and also, they are hosted outside the project.
I recommend Postman because it's easy to use with history option. Also, it has very great features like runner, collections, test scripts runners, defining environment variables and simple exporting and importing data.
Postman supports automation and organization in a way that Insomnia just doesn't. Admittedly, Insomnia makes it slightly easy to query the data that you get back (in a very MongoDB-esque query language) but Postman sets you up to develop the code that you would use in development/testing right in the editor.
Pros of Amazon API Gateway
- AWS Integration37
- Websockets7
- Serverless1
Pros of Postman
- Easy to use490
- Great tool369
- Makes developing rest api's easy peasy276
- Easy setup, looks good156
- The best api workflow out there144
- It's the best53
- History feature53
- Adds real value to my workflow44
- Great interface that magically predicts your needs43
- The best in class app35
- Can save and share script12
- Fully featured without looking cluttered10
- Collections8
- Option to run scrips8
- Global/Environment Variables8
- Shareable Collections7
- Dead simple and useful. Excellent7
- Dark theme easy on the eyes7
- Awesome customer support6
- Great integration with newman6
- Documentation5
- Simple5
- The test script is useful5
- Saves responses4
- This has simplified my testing significantly4
- Makes testing API's as easy as 1,2,34
- Easy as pie4
- API-network3
- I'd recommend it to everyone who works with apis3
- Mocking API calls with predefined response3
- Now supports GraphQL2
- Postman Runner CI Integration2
- Easy to setup, test and provides test storage2
- Continuous integration using newman2
- Pre-request Script and Test attributes are invaluable2
- Runner2
- Graph2
- <a href="http://fixbit.com/">useful tool</a>1
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Cons of Amazon API Gateway
- No websocket broadcast2
- Less expensive1
Cons of Postman
- Stores credentials in HTTP10
- Bloated features and UI9
- Cumbersome to switch authentication tokens8
- Poor GraphQL support7
- Expensive5
- Not free after 5 users3
- Can't prompt for per-request variables3
- Import swagger1
- Support websocket1
- Import curl1
