Postman: a data-backed look

Postman overview

Postman is a platform designed to simplify and streamline the API development lifecycle. It offers tools for designing, testing, documenting, and monitoring APIs, making it easier for developers to build and maintain robust API integrations.

Best suited for development teams working with APIs, Postman offers collaborative features and supports multiple API protocols to improve productivity and maintain API quality.

How much do businesses spend on Postman?

The chart below illustrates average quarterly spending on Postman across different business sizes.

Mid-market and enterprise organizations demonstrate the highest Postman investments, maintaining consistently elevated spending levels throughout the period. The stable expenditure pattern suggests these larger companies have established comprehensive API development workflows where Postman serves as a critical infrastructure component. This consistent spending reflects the tool's integration into enterprise development processes, team collaboration needs, and advanced feature utilization across multiple development teams.

Small and medium-sized businesses show more dynamic spending behavior with notable fluctuations between quarters. The dip followed by recovery indicates these organizations may be optimizing their Postman usage based on project cycles or adjusting subscription tiers as they better understand their actual API testing and development needs. This variability suggests SMBs are more responsive to changing development priorities and budget constraints.

Microbusinesses maintain remarkably stable Postman spending with minimal variation. This consistency indicates predictable API development needs and suggests Postman's pricing structure aligns well with micro business budgets and usage patterns. The stability reflects straightforward implementation requirements and limited team size.

When considering Postman for your organization, expect spending patterns to correlate with team size and API complexity. Very small businesses can anticipate steady, manageable costs ideal for budget planning, while larger organizations should prepare for substantial ongoing investments that reflect Postman's comprehensive role across multiple teams and workflows.

Who is Postman best for?

The chart below breaks down Postman’s user base by industry and business size.

Small and medium-sized businesses represent the largest segment of Postman's user base, indicating the platform's strong appeal to growing companies with expanding API development needs. This substantial adoption suggests Postman effectively addresses the collaboration and testing requirements of development teams that have outgrown basic tools but haven't yet reached enterprise complexity levels.

Microbusinesses form a significant portion of Postman's user community, demonstrating the platform's accessibility for micro teams and individual developers. This broad adoption among smaller organizations reflects Postman's user-friendly interface and essential API testing capabilities that don't require extensive setup or training, making it an attractive entry point for businesses beginning their API development journey.

Mid-market and enterprise organizations, while representing the smallest user segment, likely contribute disproportionately to Postman's revenue given their higher spending patterns and advanced feature requirements. These larger companies typically leverage Postman's enterprise-grade collaboration tools, advanced security features, and integration capabilities across multiple development teams.

The distribution reveals Postman's versatility across business sizes, with particularly strong traction among smaller to medium-sized organizations. If you're evaluating Postman, this broad adoption across company sizes suggests the platform can scale with your business, offering straightforward API testing for small teams while providing enterprise features as your development needs grow.

Postman key features

API client

• What it does: Allows sending requests to APIs and viewing responses.
• Key benefit: Simplifies testing and debugging of APIs during development.

Collections

• What it does: Organizes API requests into groups for better management.
• Key benefit: Facilitates reusability and sharing of API requests among team members.

Workspaces

• What it does: Provides collaborative environments for teams to work on API projects.
• Key benefit: Enhances team collaboration and version control for API development.

API monitoring

• What it does: Enables scheduled testing of APIs to ensure uptime and performance.
• Key benefit: Helps detect issues early and maintain API reliability.

Mock servers

• What it does: Simulates API endpoints for testing without actual backend implementation.
• Key benefit: Allows frontend and backend teams to work in parallel.

API documentation

• What it does: Generates and hosts API documentation automatically.
• Key benefit: Improves API usability and onboarding for developers

API observability

• What it does: Provides insights into API performance and usage patterns.
• Key benefit: Assists in troubleshooting and optimizing APIs.

Postman pricing

Postman pros & cons

Postman is a good fit if:

• Your team builds applications that rely heavily on complex API integrations.
• Your team needs a centralized platform to design, test, and document APIs efficiently.
• Your team wants to streamline collaboration across frontend, backend, and DevOps roles.
• Your team requires robust tools for API monitoring, debugging, and observability.
• Your team scales fast and needs reliable systems to maintain integration quality and development speed.

Consider other options if:

• Your team rarely works with APIs and doesn’t need deep integration capabilities.
• Your team needs a backend-as-a-service platform with built-in database and authentication features.
• Your team needs a no-code or low-code solution for rapid backend development.
• Your team requires a platform that handles server-side logic and storage without custom setup.