Comparison

Bruno vs Scalar

No clear leader: Bruno (63.3) and Scalar (63.2) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Bruno63
Scalar63
Score
vioscaleAI score
Bruno63 / 100medium · 65%
Scalar63 / 100medium · 70%
Pricing
Free tier
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Model
Scalarfreemium
Price level
Brunolow
Scalarhigh
Starting price
Bruno$6
Scalar$150
Transparent
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Integrations
Count
Bruno7
Scalar4
Reliability
Status page
Bruno–
Scalar✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Bruno1
Scalar1
Github stars
Bruno47,596
Scalar16,253
Package downloads weekly
Bruno262,968
Scalar1,422,867
Activity
Commits last 30d
Bruno100
Scalar100
Release
Cadence days
Bruno8
Scalar3
History
Scalar20 items
License
Spdx
BrunoMIT
ScalarMIT
Language
Primary
Content
Faq
Bruno8 items
Scalar7 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for api development tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
REST client
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
GraphQL support
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
gRPC support
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Design
Mock servers
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Testing
Automated / contract testing
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Collaboration
Team collaboration & sharing
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Docs
Doc generation
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Standards
OpenAPI / spec import
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Ops
CI integration / CLI
Bruno✓
Scalar✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Bruno

An open-source, offline-first API client that stores API collections as plain text files and integrates with Git for version control. It supports HTTP, REST, GraphQL, and gRPC requests without requiring cloud accounts or per-user licensing.

Independently observed

Scalar

A platform that creates API documentation, type-safe client libraries, and AI-ready tools from OpenAPI documents, ensuring all developer interfaces stay synchronized as APIs evolve.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Bruno

from $6/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

Free open source edition or $6–11/user/month billed annually. 14-day free trial of Ultimate available.

  • Open SourceFree
    • API Client (HTTP, REST, GraphQL, gRPC)
    • Testing
    • Documentation
    • Scripting
    • Secret Management
    • +6 more
  • Pro$6/user/month, billed annually
    • All Open Source features
    • AI Assistant
    • Public + Private Git Providers
    • Unlimited Workspaces
    • Secret Manager Integration (Vault, Azure, AWS)
    • +6 more
  • Ultimate$11/user/month, billed annually
    • All Pro features
    • Unlimited OpenAPI/OAS Import
    • Collection to OAS Generation
    • User Management (unlimited admins)
    • CSV Upload
    • +9 more
as of verify ↗

Scalar

from $150/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier available. From $150/month for Pro or $600/month for Business, with yearly billing discounts (2 months free).

  • FreeFree
    • Hosted OpenAPI docs
    • Built-in API client
    • Landing pages
    • 1 editor seat
  • Pro$150/month or $125/month billed yearly ($1,500/year)
    • Hosted MCP servers
    • 5 editor seats
    • Access groups included
    • Volume discounts available
  • Business$600/month or $500/month billed yearly ($6,000/year)
    • SSO and subpath hosting
    • 10 editor seats
    • Volume discounts available
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Unlimited APIs and custom SDK sizes
    • Priority support and SLAs
    • SDK and MCP migration services
    • Dedicated Slack/Teams channel
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Bruno✗
Scalar✓
macOS
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Windows
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Linux
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
CLI
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Bruno✗
Scalar✓
Self-hosted
Bruno✓
Scalar✓
Air-gapped
Bruno✓
Scalar✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Bruno

10 total
  • Vault
  • Azure Key Vault
  • AWS Secrets Manager
  • OpenAPI
  • Git
  • Postman
  • Insomnia
  • Swagger 2.0
  • HashiCorp Vault
  • OpenAPI / Swagger
Independently observed

Scalar

12 total
  • Agent
  • FastAPI
  • ASP.NET Core
  • Hono
  • Elysia
  • Hapi
  • Docker
  • Docusaurus
  • GitHub
  • Vercel AI SDK
  • OpenAI Agents SDK
  • Anthropic Claude Agent SDK
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Bruno or Scalar: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.