Yes, Postman is free, but only for one person. Postman's Free plan covers core API development and testing for an individual developer, and its pricing table lists 1 user for both Free and Solo. The moment a second person needs to work in the same space, you're looking at the Team plan, which Postman lists at $19 per user per month billed annually, as of October 2026.
This question usually comes up when a solo developer or a small agency that's used Postman alone for years brings in a second developer. The free plan is generous for solo work, but the one user rule catches people out. Here's exactly what you get, where the limits sit and when it makes sense to pay.
What Postman's Free plan includes
Postman describes Free as the plan for individuals building and testing APIs. According to its pricing page, it includes:
- The API client and core tools, including collections and environments
- Specs and mock servers
- Native Git
- Collection Runner and performance testing runs on your own machine
- Manual Flows
- A monthly allowance of Postman AI credits
For one developer testing their own API or a third party one, that's plenty. You can build requests, save them in collections, write tests and run them without paying anything.
Free vs Solo vs Team at a glance
These figures are from Postman's own comparison table, as of October 2026.
| Free | Solo | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $9 per month billed annually | $19 per user per month billed annually |
| Users included | 1 user | 1 user | Unlimited |
| API monitoring | 1,000 requests | 10,000 requests | 10,000 requests |
| Collection recovery | 1 day | 30 days | 90 days |
| Integrations | Up to 5 | Up to 10 | Up to 50 |
| Calls to the Postman API each month | 10,000 | 100,000 | 1 million |
| API documentation | Postman branded | Custom branded | Custom branded |
Enterprise sits above Team and is priced through sales. Postman says it's for organisation wide scale, governance and control.
The limits that matter most
One user only
This is the big one. Free and Solo both list a single user. Team is where Postman puts team collaboration, unlimited workspace and collection viewers and basic role based access control. Postman's own FAQ says you should consider Team when API work becomes shared, which is a polite way of saying a second editor means a paid plan.
Collection recovery is just 1 day
If you delete a collection by mistake on the Free plan, Postman's table shows 1 day of collection recovery. Solo gives you 30 days and Team 90. That's a detail I'd want to know before trusting years of saved requests to a free account. Export your important collections regularly.
Viewers need Team too
If you want a client or a colleague to look at your collections without editing them, check the viewer row. Postman's comparison lists unlimited workspace and collection viewers on Team and Enterprise, and doesn't list viewers on Free or Solo. So even read only sharing with another person is a reason to upgrade. Team can also be bought through AWS, which helps if your business already pays for cloud services there.
Monitoring is capped
Free includes 1,000 API monitoring requests, against 10,000 on paid plans. If you want scheduled checks that your API is up and returning the right data, you'll run through that allowance quickly.
Extra usage is for paid plans only
One rule on Postman's pricing page is easy to miss. It says pay as you go capabilities, such as extra Postman AI credits and cloud performance testing, are available on paid plans only. On Free, when you reach an allowance, you wait for it to reset rather than buying more. Postman says it notifies you as you approach usage limits, and that a usage based feature may pause until the next billing cycle.
| Allowance | Free | Solo | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automation Flows credits | 25 per month | 50 per month | 100 per team per month |
| Cloud performance testing | Not included | Pay as you go | Pay as you go |
| Support | Community and email | Community and email | Community and email |
For most solo developers these caps won't bite. If you rely on Flows to automate a workflow every day, though, count your runs before you assume Free will cover it.
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Old Basic and Professional plans
If you're reading older advice, it may mention Basic or Professional plans. Postman says those are no longer available for new customers. Existing Basic customers will move to Team over time, and Professional customers stay on their current plan and pricing. So today the choices are Free, Solo, Team and Enterprise.
When to stay free and when to pay
- Stay on Free if you're one person testing APIs, learning, or checking an integration for your own product.
- Move to Solo if you're still working alone but want custom branded documentation, more monitoring and longer collection recovery.
- Move to Team as soon as a colleague, contractor or client needs to edit the same collections.
- Talk to Postman about Enterprise if you need audit logs, advanced access controls or private API networks across several teams.
If the one user limit is a deal breaker, there are other tools worth a look. I've rounded up the best API testing tools for developers and QA teams, and there's a wider list of Postman alternatives. For the full plan breakdown, see Postman's plans and prices.
My verdict
Postman is free and very capable for a solo developer, and I wouldn't pay for it until you need to. But be clear eyed about the 1 user limit and the 1 day collection recovery. If your business is about to add a second person to API work, budget for Team or pick a tool that lets small teams share for free.
If free is your priority, see Bruno as a Postman alternative.
Frequently asked questions
Is Postman free to use?
Yes. Postman's Free plan supports core API development and testing for an individual developer, with 1 user included.
Can I share Postman with my team for free?
Not on the Free plan, which lists 1 user. Postman puts team collaboration on the Team plan.
How much does Postman Team cost?
Postman lists Team at $19 per user per month billed annually, as of October 2026.
How long can I recover deleted collections on Postman Free?
Postman's pricing table shows 1 day of collection recovery on Free, 30 days on Solo and 90 days on Team.
Does Postman still offer Basic and Professional plans?
Postman says Basic and Professional plans are no longer available for new customers.
