Karve - Native Windows REST Client

A fast, native Windows alternative to Postman for managing HTTP requests across repositories. Designed for Windows developers who want a lightweight, native tool to organize and test .http files instead of using web-based tools.

Postman's shift to a cloud-first, account-required model has created genuine frustration among developers who want a simple offline tool, and that resentment is well-documented on Hacker News and Reddit threads going back to 2022. The closest substitutes are Bruno (open-source, gaining traction fast) and JetBrains' built-in HTTP client, both of which already serve the "lightweight and file-based" crowd without requiring a paid subscription. A $1k–5k/mo revenue band is plausible only if the tool targets a paying professional audience hard — free tiers and developer tools historically resist monetization, and Windows-specific positioning narrows the addressable market rather than expanding it. The biggest risk is Bruno specifically: it's open-source, actively maintained, cross-platform, and already winning the narrative among exactly the developers this would target, which makes differentiation very difficult without a meaningful native Windows integration advantage that hasn't been articulated here.