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Hurl vs Karate: open-source API testing tools compared

Metrics as of , from the GitHub or GitLab API of each repository. Refreshed monthly.

Summary

Hurl: Command line tool that runs and tests HTTP requests written in a plain text format.

Karate: Test automation framework for API, UI and performance tests and mocks, written as feature files.

Both are listed under API testing. The table gives repository metrics from the GitHub API with their fetch date, then the documented facts used for every comparison in this category, each linked to the README or docs page it comes from. A cell reads "not documented" when the fact was not found in the project's documentation; that does not mean the feature is absent.

Side by side

Hurl and Karate: metrics and documented facts, in the fixed row order used for API testing comparisons.
FactHurlKarate
Stars19,21018,9651
Forks74512,0421
Contributors9711741
Last release2026-04-2912026-08-141
Last commit2026-09-2112026-09-191
Commits in 90 days16314601
LicenseApache-2.01MIT1
Primary languageRust1Java1
Statusactive1active1
ProtocolsHTTP: REST, SOAP and GraphQL APIs, HTML content, XML and JSON based APIs source: READMEREST over HTTP, GraphQL, SOAP, WebSocket source: Docs: Why Karate?
Test authoring formatPlain text Hurl files that define HTTP requests and asserts source: READMEPlain-text feature files with Karate keywords source: Docs: Why Karate?
Languages for writing testsHurl plain text file format source: READMEKarate DSL with Gherkin-based syntax source: Docs: Why Karate?
Parallel or distributed execution--parallel runs each file in its own worker thread; --jobs sets the number of parallel jobs source: READMEParallel runner using Java 21+ virtual threads; features and scenarios run in parallel source: Docs: Parallel Execution
CI integrationCI/CD tutorial with GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD examples source: Docs: CI/CD IntegrationCI/CD guide with a GitHub Actions reference workflow source: Docs: CI/CD
Report formatsHTML, JSON, JUnit, TAP source: READMEHTML (default), JUnit XML, Cucumber JSON source: Docs: Parallel Execution
Install methodBinaries; Homebrew, Chocolatey, Scoop, winget, cargo, conda-forge, npm, Docker image ghcr.io/orange-opensource/hurl source: READMEVS Code extension, Karate CLI, Maven, Gradle or standalone JAR source: Docs: Quick Start

1 Fetched from the GitHub or GitLab API on . Hover a value for its own date.

When each fits

Written from each project's documented scope, not from preference. Neither tool is ranked.

Hurl

Fits projects that run and test HTTP requests defined in plain text files from the command line; its README describes chaining requests, capturing values and evaluating queries on response headers and body. source: README

Karate

Fits projects that test APIs, mocks, performance and web UIs with one tool; its README describes one framework that combines API testing, mocks, performance testing and UI automation. source: README

More on these tools

Sources

  1. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  2. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  3. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  4. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  5. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  6. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  7. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  8. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  9. README, read
  10. Docs: Why Karate?, read
  11. Docs: Parallel Execution, read
  12. Docs: CI/CD Integration, read
  13. Docs: CI/CD, read
  14. Docs: Quick Start, read
  15. README, read

Documented facts collected 2026-09-22. See the methodology for how metrics and facts are gathered.