Feature checklists rarely decide anything. What decides it is the pricing metric, who has to write the tests, and which limitation you can live with.
Entry price
From $19 per user (one-time, Golden Edition)
Free tierFrom $829 per year (indicative, ReadyAPI Test module)
Free tierWhat drives the bill
The metric that actually scales your invoice.
The core is free and open source. A small one-time fee unlocks convenience features; an enterprise edition exists separately.
ReadyAPI is licensed per module — Test, Performance, Virtualization — and buying all three multiplies the cost.
Free tier
The open-source app and CLI are free and fully functional offline.
SoapUI open source is free and covers SOAP and REST functional testing.
Open source
MIT (core)
EUPL-1.1 (SoapUI open source)
Self-hostable
No-code authoring
Languages
Platforms
Fits teams
Adoption
Widely used
Bruno Software · since 2023
Widely used
SmartBear · since 2005
Strengths
Limitations
Best for
Engineering teams that want API tests versioned alongside the code they test.
Enterprises testing SOAP services, message queues and legacy integration layers.
All of these integrate with: Git.
Pricing last reviewed August 2026 and is indicative only — confirm on each vendor’s own page.