When you create a mock API, also known as a fake API, you are creating an API that returns the desired data. Even yet, this isn’t your real API, and some use cases have been mocked up. The Mock API can help you and your team develops faster by assisting you in your development process.
The information in your request (necessary headers, required body, or query params) and the information you’ll get in the response will follow the same schema as the API itself (it will provide you with the identical data structure you may have in your entire API for the response of your request).
You can run your mock server on your local machine or on a remote server. You also have the option of releasing them on the Internet or within your company.
Top 7 Best Free & Paid mock API tools in 2022
1.MockAPI
- It offers both free and paid options
- .MockAPI is a software that lets you create fake APIs and servers.
- MockAPI is probably the simplest answer you’ll find. It’s a tool that lets you quickly mock up APIs, generate custom data, and execute operations over a RESTful interface. MockAPI was created with prototyping, testing, and learning in mind.
There is a free version as well as a premium version (which costs $5 per month or $35 per year). In the free edition, there are only one project and four bogus REST API endpoints. The commercial version, on the other hand, includes 20 projects with up to 50 fake REST API endpoints each.
MockAPI can let you quickly create and change resources as well as their relationships. You can also use faker.js to generate fake data using MockAPI. Finally, by adding your team members, you can collaborate with them.
2.Mocki
- This functionality is only available in premium plans.
- Mocki is a high-end API spoofing program.
- Mocki offers a seven-day free trial when you sign up. For $10 a month, you can get premium features like GitHub integration, unlimited requests, improved support, and an API monitoring dashboard.
To get started with Mocki, install the NPM package and create a setup file for your project. You can also get started on Mocki’s website, which has user-friendly and detailed documentation.
Setting network delay, simulating response content, sending conditional responses, and even delivering arbitrary data as a response are all features of Mocki.
Mocki eliminates the need for external services by managing all of the work; Mocki can handle building APIs, simulating error scenarios, and serving static responses.
3.Mockoon
- Open-source and free software Mockoon is a mock API generator that is completely free to use.
- If you wish to work with free and open-source software, Mockoon is another option.
- Mockoon can help you get your REST API mock APIs up and running. Mockoon is a downloadable program that allows you to simulate an unlimited number of routes and settings, unlike the rest of this article’s list.
Mockoon is a good choice for enterprise and large-scale projects because it has a lot of features for organizing your projects into different contexts. In this way, Mockoon has a significant advantage over the other options.
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Mockoon has a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI), but it also offers a command-line interface (CLI) for developers who prefer not to leave their keyboard! You will surely save a large amount of time by using the CLI.
4.Mocky
- It offers both free and paid options.
- Mocky is a tool for creating fake servers.
- On their official website, Mocky is described as follows:
- Use the world’s simplest and fastest toolkits to mock your APIs.
Mocky is a web application, therefore it’s smaller, cleaner, and easier to use. Mocky is also completely free to use, with no ads, limitations, or other limitations. You may find the project’s GitHub repository here. Also, look at endpoint security software.
Mocky is also fully compatible with Javascript, mobile, and server apps, and supports CORS, JSONP, and GZIP responses. As a result, you don’t need to establish an account to start mimicking APIs right immediately.
If you need a rapid approach to construct Mock APIs, Mocky is an excellent option, and it may even be used for educational purposes. However, enterprise applications with a large number of APIs and collections may not be a good fit.
5.Stoplight
- It offers both free and paid options.
- Stoplight makes creating phoney Restful APIs a breeze.
- Stoplight makes it possible to run your mock APIs faster than previously. For answers, you can even construct your own JSON structure.
The Stoplight was made with Prism, a famous open-source program. As a result, you can quickly turn any Open API 2, Open API 3, or Postman Collection file into an API server by using mocking, transformations, and validations. Stoplight lets you mimic Rest API endpoints using various HTTP methods, as demonstrated in the screenshot above.
The free version of Stoplight lets you construct fake APIs and generate documentation for them. Without any limitations, you can utilize the corporate edition’s version control system, Collaborative API Design, to create mock APIs for diverse projects.
We’re talking about a high-quality UI/UX design here because Stoplight has a user-friendly interface.
Finally, it has good integration with most version control platforms, such as GitHub, GitLab, and Azure DevOps, making it even easier to use.
6.Postman Mock Server
- It offers both free and paid options.
- Mock servers are one of Postman’s many features that allow users to create fictitious APIs.
- Postman is an API Client program that can perform a variety of tasks, including API testing, which we covered in our post on Postman API testing. One of them is the mock server. You’ll need a Postman account to use Postman Mock Servers.
One of Postman’s most appealing features is that its mock servers are hosted on Postman Cloud, allowing it to be accessed from anywhere. Like Beeceptor, you can also simulate network latencies. Unfortunately, the free edition of Postman’s mock server has a request limitation.
7.Beeceptor
- It offers both free and paid options.
- Beeceptor is an API mimicking tool with a lot of power.
- Beeceptor is one of the most user-friendly tools on the market for constructing phony APIs. Beeceptor’s free version has a daily request limit, however, subscription plans let you send more requests per day and offer extra features like a private dashboard.
Because it does not require the use of code, Beeceptor is said to as an easy-to-use tool. You may inspect HTTP traffic as well as request payloads and headers. If your API server is unavailable, you can describe your desired response using a Mock API. Beeceptor by default supports CORS and accepts any origin, which is beneficial.
You may use Beeceptor’s Proxy mode to bypass all of your APIs, inspect their traffic, mimic a few queries, and then send everything back to the original API.
Beeceptor allows you to specify higher latencies to simulate people with slower internet connections. One of the significant differences between Beeceptor and other mock API solutions is that it allows A/B testing without requiring redeploying your application or complex configurations.
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