Postman (software) explained

License:	proprietary software
Author:	Abhinav Asthana, Ankit Sobti, Abhijit Kane
Genre:	Software testing
Latest Release Version:	v11.19

Postman is an Indian-origin^{[1] [2]} global software company that offers an API platform for developers to design, build, test, and collaborate on APIs.^[3]

Over 30 million registered users and 500,000 organizations are using Postman.^[4]

Postman also maintains the Postman API Network, a directory of over 100,000 public APIs that is listed as the world’s largest such collection.^[5]

The company is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains additional offices in Tokyo and Bangalore, where Postman was founded.^[6]

History

Postman started in 2012 as a side project of software engineer Abhinav Asthana, who wanted to simplify API testing while working at Yahoo Bangalore.^[7] He named his app Postman – a play on the API request “POST” – and offered it free in the Chrome Web Store. As the app's usage grew to 500,000 users with no marketing, Abhinav recruited former colleagues Ankit Sobti and Abhijit Kane to help create Postman, Inc. The three co-founders lead the company today, with Abhinav serving as CEO and Ankit as CTO.^{[8] [9] [10]}

In 2023, Postman announced it had acquired Akita, an API observability solution.^[11] In 2024, Postman acquired Orbit, a solution for building and managing developer communities.^[12]

Features

Postman features include: ^{[13] [14] [15]}

• Workspaces: Personal, team, partner, and public workspaces allow for API collaboration internally and externally
• API repository: Allows users to store, catalog, and collaborate around API artifacts in a central platform within public, private, or partner networks
• API builder: Helps implement an API design workflow through specifications including OpenAPI, GraphQL, and RAML. Integrates varied source controls, CI/CD, gateways, and APM solutions
• Tools: API client, API design, API documentation, API testing, mock servers, and API detection
• Intelligence: Security warnings, API repository search, workspaces, reporting, API governance

Postman v11 was released in May 2024. The update includes AI-powered features to help developers with API test generation, documentation, debugging, and data visualization.^[16] V11 also enables more users to share API collections with external partners.

Business model

Postman offers tiered pricing, ranging from free options for small teams to paid plans for larger companies and enterprises.^[17]

Ownership

Postman is privately held, with funding from Nexus Venture Partners, CRV, Insight Partners, Coatue, Battery Ventures, and Mary Meeker’s BOND. In May 2015, the company raised a $1 million seed round. In August 2021, Postman raised a $225 million Series D round at a $5.6 billion valuation.^[18]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Harichandan . Arakali . January 5, 2022 . Abhinav Asthana and Postman: Putting India on the global tech map . December 1, 2024 . Forbes India.
2. Web site: Mishra . Digbijay . Mukul . Pranav . August 5, 2024 . SaaS star Postman sees 30-40% cut in valuation in secondary deal . December 1, 2024 . The Economic Times.
3. Web site: Asthana . Abhinav . April 5, 2021 . How we built Postman—the product and the company . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
4. Web site: Postman Acquires Orbit To Expand Reach In Software Developer Community . 2024-05-14 . BW Disrupt . en.
5. Web site: Team . DRJ Editorial . 2024-05-14 . Postman Announces Winners of Inaugural Postman API Network Awards . 2024-05-14 . Disaster Recovery Journal . en-US.
6. Web site: About Us . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
7. Web site: Asthana . Abhinav . 2021-04-05 . How We Built Postman—the Product and the Company . 2024-05-14 . Postman Blog . en-US.
8. Web site: About Us . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
9. Web site: Asthana . Abhinav . April 5, 2021 . How we built Postman—the product and the company . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
10. Web site: July 5, 2022 . Postman Origin Story . December 1, 2024 . YouTube.
11. Web site: ((Business Wire)) . 2023-07-19 . Postman Acquires Akita Software . 2024-05-14 . MarTech Series . en.
12. Web site: Postman Acquires Orbit DEVOPSdigest . 2024-05-14 . www.devopsdigest.com.
13. Web site: Keegan . Seam . June 8, 2021 . 10 Postman features everyone should know . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
14. Web site: Lane . Kin . December 7, 2021 . A Timeline of Postman’s Journey to Become an API Platform . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
15. Web site: What is Postman? . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
16. Web site: Lawson . Loraine . 2024-05-08 . New Postman Release Supports AI API Development With ... AI . 2024-05-14 . The New Stack . en-US.
17. Web site: Postman API Platform plans and pricing . December 1, 2024 . Postman.
18. Web site: Asthana . Abhinav . April 5, 2021 . Postman API Platform plans and pricing . August 18, 2021 . Postman.