Keyrunner vs Postman: Security & Architecture Focused Comparison
When evaluating API testing tools, performance and usability matter — but for modern organizations, security, data residency, and compliance architecture are often the real decision-makers.
This guide presents a deep comparison between Keyrunner and Postman, focusing on security, deployment flexibility, and data governance — based on official sources and observed behavior.
🔐 Security & Deployment Comparison
| Feature | Keyrunner | Postman |
|---|---|---|
| On-Prem / Enterprise Deployment | Fully supported via Keyconnector — stay within your infra. | Offers an Enterprise desktop-only setup but no true self-hosted server. |
| Secrets & Data Residency | Secrets, tokens, and API data remain in your environment. History is always stored locally. | Secrets synced to cloud unless using Postman Vault, which must be explicitly configured. |
| Cloud Sync Behavior | No forced sync. Workspaces only sync when connected through Keyconnector. | Default sync stores history, requests, and potentially sensitive data in cloud. (Lee Holmes article) |
| Secret Management | Native integration with Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP, Azure — fully user-controlled. | Postman Vault is local, but sync must be disabled manually to ensure full control. |
| Certificates & Local Assets | Certificates and keys are always local and never uploaded. | Certificates are stored locally, not synced. |
| Audit Logs / SCIM / SSO | Full support in Enterprise — audit logs, SCIM, RBAC, SSO. | Postman Enterprise offers similar features on higher plans. |
| Offline / Air-Gapped Usage | Fully supported — Keyrunner runs offline, ideal for zero-trust environments. | Postman app runs offline, but collaboration/sync features rely on cloud connectivity. |
🔗 What is Keyconnector?
Keyconnector is Keyrunner’s secure, on-premise communication bridge enabling collaboration without exposing requests or data to the public cloud. It allows:
- Workspaces and flows to be shared securely
- Complete isolation of secrets, test data, and request history
- Enterprise SSO, RBAC, and audit integration — all within your firewall
It’s ideal for:
- Financial services
- Healthcare & HIPAA-compliant environments
- Government & regulated industries
- Zero-trust and air-gapped infrastructure
⚠️ Postman's Cloud-First Model
While Postman Vault exists and is encrypted, many of Postman's features are designed with a cloud-first mindset:
- Sync is enabled by default
- Request history and collections are pushed to Postman servers
- Secrets may be transmitted unless manually excluded
- No true self-hosted server or backend — only app-level isolation
These behaviors raise potential risks in regulated or high-security contexts.
✅ Summary Table
| Security Priority | Keyrunner | Postman |
|---|---|---|
| True on-premise architecture | ✅ (via Keyconnector) | ❌ (desktop app only, cloud backend) |
| Secrets remain fully local | ✅ | ⚠️ Only with Vault + manual sync disabling |
| API requests stored in cloud | ❌ | ✅ (unless sync is disabled) |
| Offline / air-gapped mode | ✅ | ⚠️ Limited to basic app usage |
| Enterprise audit / SSO / SCIM | ✅ | ✅ (Enterprise tier) |
📌 Bottom Line
If your organization prioritizes data sovereignty, compliance, and deployment flexibility, Keyrunner is built for your workflows. Through Keyconnector, it bridges collaboration and control — letting teams share workspaces without giving up data ownership.
More comparisions or explore Keyconnector to learn more.