ReqRes vs Beeceptor

Beeceptor and ReqRes are both hosted, so neither needs a server on your machine. They solve different problems. Beeceptor is a mock server: you write rules that decide what each request gets back, across REST, GraphQL, SOAP and gRPC. ReqRes is a small REST backend: data you write is stored, users can log in, and every call is logged.

TL;DR

• Beeceptor is a rule-based, hosted mock server with templating, latency and chaos tools, proxying, and OpenAPI, GraphQL, SOAP and gRPC mocks.
• ReqRes is a hosted REST backend with persistent collections, app-user login, request logs, and a free no-signup demo API.
• Beeceptor's free tier is 50 requests a day. ReqRes's free tier is 250 a day, and the demo API needs no account at all.
• Beeceptor's CRUD storage is a capped JSON bucket per endpoint (10 objects free, oldest deleted first). ReqRes stores records until you delete them (100 free, up to 50,000 on Pro).
• Pick Beeceptor to mock someone else's API precisely. Pick ReqRes when your app needs a real backend to talk to.

What Beeceptor is

Beeceptor is a hosted service for mocking APIs and inspecting HTTP traffic. You get an endpoint, add rules that match on method, path, headers, query and body, and return templated responses.

Its strengths:

• Rules and Handlebars templating, with Faker data
• Latency and chaos - fixed, random or log-normal delays, weighted random failures and timeouts
• Wide protocol support - OpenAPI import, GraphQL, SOAP from WSDL, and gRPC
• Proxying and callbacks - mix real upstream responses with mocks
• An on-premise option for companies that need it

Pricing (monthly): Free ($0, 50 requests/day, 3 rules), Individual ($10, 15,000 requests/month), Team ($25, 100,000 requests/month, request history, CI/CD), Scale ($99, 1M+ requests/month) and Enterprise. Free endpoints are public.

What ReqRes is

ReqRes is a hosted backend you call with fetch():

• A free demo API at https://reqres.in/api/users, with no signup and ?delay= for testing loading states
• Projects with persistent collections, app-user authentication (magic-code login, sessions, per-user data), request logs and custom endpoints
• Failure scenarios you can trigger on demand. Three are free (a 429 rate limit, a 422 validation error and malformed JSON); all 15 come with the Agent Developer plan.

Key differences

When to choose ReqRes

• Your app needs to write data and read it back later, across sessions, devices and teammates.
• You need login that works, so each user sees only their own records.
• You want every request logged, on the free tier too.
• You want to start with no account, using the demo API in a tutorial, a course or a quick test.
• You are building a frontend first and need something that behaves like the backend you will eventually build.

When to choose Beeceptor

• You are mocking a third-party API and need responses to match it exactly, rule by rule.
• You need GraphQL, SOAP or gRPC, not just REST.
• You need detailed chaos testing, such as a 1% failure rate or a latency distribution.
• You want to proxy a real API and override only some responses.
• You need an on-premise or air-gapped deployment.

Side by side: a record that stays put

ReqRes:

const headers = {
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'x-api-key': 'YOUR_MANAGE_KEY', // pro_* key for writes, keep it server-side
};

await fetch('https://reqres.in/api/collections/orders/records', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({ data: { item: 'Headphones', status: 'paid' } }),
});

const { data } = await fetch('https://reqres.in/api/collections/orders/records', { headers })
  .then((r) => r.json());

Beeceptor (CRUD on an endpoint's JSON bucket):

await fetch('https://your-endpoint.free.beeceptor.com/api/orders', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ item: 'Headphones', status: 'paid' }),
});
// On the free tier the bucket holds 10 objects; the oldest are removed as new ones arrive

Using both

They work well together. Use Beeceptor to stand in for the external services your app calls (payments, shipping, a partner's SOAP API), and ReqRes as the backend your frontend talks to, with real data, users and logs.

ReqRes is not for you if...

• You need to mock GraphQL, SOAP or gRPC
• You need to replicate a third-party API response by response
• You need proxying or callbacks to other services
• You need an on-premise deployment of the core product

Common questions

Is ReqRes a Beeceptor alternative?

For REST, yes, especially when you need data that persists, real logins or a larger free tier. If you need rule-level control over responses or non-REST protocols, Beeceptor is the better fit.

Which has the bigger free tier?

ReqRes: 250 requests a day on a free project, and the demo API at reqres.in/api/users needs no account. Beeceptor's free tier is 50 requests a day with 3 rules.

Does Beeceptor keep my data?

Its CRUD feature keeps a JSON bucket per endpoint, capped by plan (10 objects free, 100 on Individual, 500 on Team). When the cap is reached, the oldest objects are deleted. ReqRes keeps records until you delete them, up to your plan's limit.

Next step

• Best mock API tools, by use case
• Call the free demo API - no signup
• Create a project - persistent collections, auth and logs
• See pricing