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GitHub
github.com › arainho › awesome-api-security
GitHub - arainho/awesome-api-security: A collection of awesome API Security tools and resources. The focus goes to open-source tools and resources that benefit all the community. · GitHub
An open-source project in Golang to test different web application firewalls (WAF) for detection logic and bypasses ... Contextual Content Discovery Tool. ... Open-source API security tool to discover, inventory, test, and protect your APIs.
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Wiz
wiz.io › academy › api-security › top-oss-api-security-tools
Best API Security Testing Tools, Plus How Wiz Closes Gaps | Wiz
December 21, 2025 - Here are our top picks for open-source API security tools: APIsec Scan enables continuous, automated API security testing by discovering endpoints, running tailored attack playbooks, and integrating results into CI/CD workflows.
Discussions

Open Source API Security Tools
I think you should be a little bit more specific in what you’re looking for. Are you asking about authentication? Authorization? WAF? IDS? More on reddit.com
🌐 r/AskNetsec
4
20
March 24, 2022
Good free tools for API testing?
🌐 r/cybersecurity
5
4
July 25, 2025
What are the best API testing tools?

This is a weird list. Jmeter is an odd choice for API testing. Jmeter is typically used for performance/load testing.

Also, no postman?

Also, is Apigee a test framework? I've never heard of it being used for testing purposes.

More on reddit.com
🌐 r/QualityAssurance
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0
June 8, 2021
Looking for API Security Testing Tools

I don't have any tools right now, but this checklist might be useful to you.

More on reddit.com
🌐 r/HowToHack
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August 13, 2018
People also ask

Can mitmproxy test API security?
mitmproxy is a traffic interception and manipulation tool, not an automated scanner. You route API traffic through mitmproxy to inspect requests and responses, modify parameters, replay calls, and test authentication edge cases manually. It is invaluable for manual API security testing but does not automate vulnerability detection the way ZAP or Nuclei do.
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appsecsanta.com
appsecsanta.com › home › api security tools › best open source api security tools in 2026
7 Best Open Source API Security Tools (2026) | AppSec Santa
What is 42Crunch API Audit and is it really free?
42Crunch API Audit is a static OpenAPI specification analyzer that identifies security weaknesses in your API contract — missing authentication definitions, overly permissive schemas, lack of rate limiting definitions, and OWASP API Top 10 gaps. The audit tool has a free tier for individual developers via VS Code extension and the 42Crunch platform. Penetration testing (dynamic scanning) requires the paid tier.
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appsecsanta.com
appsecsanta.com › home › api security tools › best open source api security tools in 2026
7 Best Open Source API Security Tools (2026) | AppSec Santa
What is the difference between ZAP and Nuclei for API security?
OWASP ZAP is an interactive DAST scanner with a proxy mode, active scanning, and a full GUI for manual API exploration. Nuclei is a template-driven scanner where security researchers publish templates covering specific vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. ZAP gives you broader API attack coverage from a single tool; Nuclei is more targeted — you run specific templates against specific endpoints. They complement each other well in a pipeline.
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appsecsanta.com
appsecsanta.com › home › api security tools › best open source api security tools in 2026
7 Best Open Source API Security Tools (2026) | AppSec Santa
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OWASP Foundation
owasp.org › www-community › Free_for_Open_Source_Application_Security_Tools
Free for Open Source Application Security Tools | OWASP Foundation
StackHawk is free for Open Source projects and free to use on a single application. VWT Digital’s sec-helpers - Collection of dynamic security related helpers. Sec-helpers is a bundle of useful tests and validators to ensure the security of a given domain. WuppieFuzz is a coverage-guided REST API fuzzer developed on top of LibAFL, targeting a wide audience of end-users, with a strong focus on ease-of-use, explainability of the discovered flaws and modularity.
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OWASP Foundation
owasp.org › www-community › api_security_tools
API Security Tools | OWASP Foundation
Supports REST and GraphQL APIs with positive security model. Open sourced. | | | | AI-powered, fully managed API protection against OWASP API Top 10 threats, DDoS and bot attacks. Unified platform for API discovery, vulnerability scanning and protection · | | | | A complete vulnerability analysis and penetration testing platform for APIs
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AppSec Santa
appsecsanta.com › home › api security tools › best open source api security tools in 2026
7 Best Open Source API Security Tools (2026) | AppSec Santa
April 17, 2026 - Compare the top open-source API security tools — OWASP ZAP, Nuclei, mitmproxy, 42Crunch, Escape, Bearer — tested for REST and GraphQL API coverage.
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Cyberlands
cyberlands.io › opensourceapitestingtools
9 Open-Source API Security Testing & Manipulation Tools
This is a user-friendly open-source tool for performing security, compliance, functional, and load testing on your APIs and web services. The security testing features will help provide a secure API environment for your target services, especially the more vulnerable public-facing apps.
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TechTarget
techtarget.com › cybersecurity › tip › 10-API-security-testing-tools-to-mitigate-risk
10 API security testing tools to mitigate risk | TechTarget
Karate is an open source framework that combines automated API testing, performance testing and mocking into a single framework. While it is implemented in Java, it doesn't require users to have advanced programming skills.
Find elsewhere
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Astra Security
getastra.com › blog › security-audit › best-api-penetration-testing-tools
Top 10 API Pentesting Tools in 2026 [Expert Opinion]
March 19, 2026 - Here’s a short list of the top API pentesting tools if you are short on time: Burp Suite: Best overall manual API security testing work surface · ZAP by Checkmarx (OWASP ZAP): Best open-source API testing baseline
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Testsprite
testsprite.com › use-cases › en › the-best-api-security-testing-tools
Ultimate Guide - The Best API Security Testing Tools of 2026
A clean, unified experience that shortens the path from design to secure validation. Our 2026 top five are TestSprite, Postman, OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, and Apidog. These tools collectively cover autonomous AI-driven testing, collaboration, open-source DAST, pentester-grade depth, and low-code ...
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API7.ai
api7.ai › home › api 101 › api security testing tools and techniques for modern apis
API Security Testing Tools and Techniques for Modern APIs - API7.ai
June 11, 2025 - OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) remains a popular choice for automated penetration testing, offering a wide array of API-specific add-ons. For developers, integrating security directly into their workflows is crucial.
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Akamai
akamai.com › glossary › what are api security testing tools?
What Are API Security Testing Tools? | Akamai
June 23, 2025 - Astra helps identify and fix vulnerabilities with automated scanning, detailed reports, and remediation guidance. OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is an open source web application security scanner that supports API security testing.
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Qualysec
qualysec.com › home › 10 must-know api security testing tools for 2026
10 Must-Know API Security Testing Tools for 2026
August 12, 2026 - JMeter is a flexible tool frequently used for API performance and security testing. ... A complete set of functionalities for developing, debugging, and testing APIs can be found in the open-source API security testing tool called Insomnia.
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Apisec
au.apisec.ai › api-tools-and-resources
API Security Tools & Resources for AppSec and DevSecOps Teams | APISec University
JWT_Tool is a toolkit for testing, tweaking and cracking JSON Web Tokens. ... Kiterunner is a tool that performs traditional content discovery, and also bruteforces routes/endpoints in modern applications. ... Converts mitmproxy captures to OpenAPI 3.0 specifications. Automatically reverse-engineer REST APIs by just running the apps and capturing the traffic. ... Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 6700 potentially dangerous files/programs, checks for outdated versions.
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Novee
novee.security › home › blog › 7 best api security testing tools of 2026
7 Best API Security Testing Tools of 2026
2 weeks ago - StackHawk is ideal for developer-led teams that want API security scans on every pull request. ZAP is a free, open-source scanner and intercepting proxy. Its packaged API scan runs from a Docker image, imports OpenAPI, SOAP, or GraphQL definitions, and runs an active scan tuned for APIs that skips browser-focused checks like XSS. Business logic and authorization flaws still require manual testing. ZAP fits teams building baseline API coverage without a tooling budget.
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Nordic APIs
nordicapis.com › 7-open-source-api-security-tools
7 Open-Source API Security Tools | Nordic APIs |
January 10, 2023 - A roundup of up some helpful open-source security testing utilities, open standards, and free identity management solutions that can be used to help build and test a zero-trust API architecture.
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ApiSec
apisec.ai › blog › which-api-security-testing-tool-should-i-choose
Which API Security Testing Tool Should I Choose | APIsec
November 17, 2025 - ... Developers using Postman can enhance workflow security by referencing the Best API Documentation Tools to ensure clear, enforceable specifications. Overview ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is a free, open-source DAST tool supported by the OWASP community.
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Cobalt
cobalt.io › blog › top-6-api-pentesting-tools
Top 6 API Pentesting Tools
December 24, 2025 - Learn more about effective penetration testing with GraphQL. Checkmarx ZAP, developed as an OWASP project, is an open-source dynamic security application testing (DAST) tool that can be used as a proxy serve for API scanning.
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StackHawk
stackhawk.com › stackhawk, inc. › api security testing › 8 best api security testing tools in 2026 - stackhawk, inc.
8 Best API Security Testing Tools in 2026 - StackHawk, Inc.
August 25, 2026 - Metlo is not testing-only either: its own summary covers detecting bad actors and blocking malicious traffic in real time, so it spans two of the three categories above. Best for: Teams that want a self-hosted open-source option and will evaluate project health themselves. 42Crunch is an OpenAPI-centric lifecycle platform with three named components. API Security Audit checks the definition at design time, API Scan tests the deployed API, and API Protection defends it at runtime through what 42Crunch calls an API-native micro firewall.