RequestlyIO Pitched as Local-First API Client
A new open-source API client, RequestlyIO, is being promoted as a local-first alternative to cloud-based tools. The tool stores API collections as JSON files directly within a developer's code repository, avoiding cloud sync issues. This approach aims to address common pain points in API design and testing workflows for development teams.
Founded in 2021 by Sachin Jain, Sahil Gupta, and Sagar Soni, Requestly began as a side project to solve a common developer frustration. Jain, with prior experience at Google and Adobe, started with a simple Chrome extension to help developers test and debug HTTP requests more efficiently, a tool some users have called the "missing piece in Chrome dev tools." The startup gained early traction within the developer community and was accepted into Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch, securing $125,000 in initial funding. This was followed by another funding round in March 2023 from investors including Titan Capital and Surge Ventures Inc., bringing its total funding to $500K. Requestly's core differentiator is its focus on browser-native interception, allowing frontend developers and QA engineers to modify network behavior directly as the browser sees it, without altering backend code. This contrasts with tools like Postman, which are designed more for comprehensive API lifecycle management. Many teams end up using both: Postman to govern the API and Requestly to manipulate traffic in real-time for frontend debugging. The "local-first" approach is central to its appeal, storing API collections as files on the developer's machine. This architecture provides inherent benefits like offline support, enhanced privacy, and faster performance by eliminating network latency for most operations. For collaboration, the tool integrates with Git, using existing version control systems instead of proprietary cloud sync. This focus on developer experience helped it grow to over 200,000 developers at companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The journey from a side project to a widely-used tool culminated in its acquisition by web and mobile testing company BrowserStack in May 2025. BrowserStack acquired Requestly for an undisclosed sum to expand its developer tool offerings. Ritesh Arora, BrowserStack's CEO, highlighted Requestly's innovative browser-native approach and its passionate developer community as key reasons for the acquisition, committing to maintaining the open-source nature that developers value.
