I spent a lot of time reading through multiple Reddit (primarily) and X discussions about the recent Postman changes, and it was fascinating to see what developers are struggling with and what they really care about in an API tool.
These are my key take aways:
<ol>
<li>Git-native is non-negotiable</li>
</ol>
-Developers want API collections and tests living alongside their code.
-Anything cloud-only or proprietary immediately adds friction and slows teams down.
<ol>
<li>Local-first builds trust</li>
</ol>
-Much of the discussion wasn’t about features at all. It was about control, ownership, and avoiding vendor lock-in.
-When requests, environments, or secrets live on someone else’s servers, trust disappears.
<ol>
<li>Reliable imports reduce switching costs</li>
</ol>
-OpenAPI, HAR, and collection parsing are critical.
-If a tool can’t reliably import existing work, migrating away from an old tool becomes painful.
Postman still dominates mindshare here, largely due to import reliability.
<ol>
<li>Speed matters more than feature lists</li>
</ol>
-Developers value tools that are fast, lightweight, and focused.
-Most don’t want bloated “enterprise dashboards” just to send requests.
<ol>
<li>Secrets handling is underrated but crucial</li>
</ol>
Devs want:
-Automatic reading from existing environment variables
-No duplicate configuration
-Smooth integration with secret managers
-Git-friendly workflows
One comment summed it up perfectly:
“Figure out a way for it to grab secrets via loaded environment variables and you’ve got yourself something very special.”
<ol>
<li>Automation is powerful but selective</li>
</ol>
-Visual flows, request chaining, and reusable sequences excite some teams — especially for end-to-end API testing.
-Others just need something that works reliably with minimal setup.
The bigger takeaway?
Many see this as a “feature war,” but really, it’s a trust war.
Its possible that the winning tools are no the ones with the flashiest tabs or AI integrations etc. but the ones who simply respect developer workflows.
This discussion resonated deeply, because when we decided to open source Voiden, this is exactly what we had in mind:
Not just another API client, but a tool that aligns with how developers think and work.
This is the repo to have a look: <a href="https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://github.com/VoidenHQ/voiden</a>
Have you been following the discussions? Is there anything else you noted/noticed?

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Developer sentiment around Postman's recent changes reveals core priorities: git-native workflows, local-first architecture, reliable import capabilities, speed over features, seamless secrets management, and selective automation. The underlying issue isn't feature competition but trust—developers want tools that respect their existing workflows rather than forcing cloud-only, proprietary solutions. Key pain points include vendor lock-in concerns, friction from cloud-dependent tools, and the need for smooth integration with environment variables and secret managers.

Reading Between the Lines: Postman Changes and What Devs Value