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curl

Command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs.

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curl is a command line tool and libcurl is a C library for transferring data with URLs. It supports a wide range of protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, SMTP, IMAP, POP3, WebSocket and others, along with proxy support, TLS 1.0-1.3, QUIC, various authentication methods, DNS-over-HTTPS, connection reuse, parallel transfers and rate limiting. The project is free and open source software.

libcurl offers a stable API and ABI, thread-safety, IPv6 support, and portability across numerous platforms and CPUs. It provides both pull and push interfaces, bindings for multiple languages, and detailed documentation including man pages, tutorials, and commented source examples. The project maintains mailing lists, a public bug tracker, and offers paid support through listed support companies.

12 alternatives to curl

Ranked by how well each tool replaces curl: shared features, audience, price and popularity.

  1. wkhtmltopdf

    Open source command line tools rendering HTML to PDF and images

    Covers 4 of 15 key features.

    Open source
    54 out of 100 match—

  2. RealTerm

    Serial terminal program for capturing, controlling and debugging binary and difficult data

    Covers 5 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    53 out of 100 matchContact sales

  3. RapidAPI for Mac

    The most advanced API tool for Mac

    Covers 4 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    52 out of 100 matchContact sales

  4. YAML

    YAML Ain't Markup Language

    Covers 3 of 15 key features.

    Open source
    51 out of 100 match—

  5. Hoppscotch

    Open source API development ecosystem.

    Covers 5 of 15 key features.

    Open source
    51 out of 100 match—

  6. Cloudmersive

    There's an API for that. Cloudmersive is a leader in Highly Scalable Cloud APIs.

    Covers 6 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    51 out of 100 matchUsage-based

  7. Insomnia

    The collaborative API development platform.

    Covers 5 of 15 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    51 out of 100 match$12/mo

  8. CurrencyAPI

    Currency API for live and historical exchange rates.

    Covers 4 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    50 out of 100 match$9.99/mo

  9. Transformy

    HTML to PDF API with an API for you and an MCP for your agent

    Covers 6 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    50 out of 100 matchFree

  10. ScrapingBee

    Web scraping API that handles proxies, headless browsers and anti-bot defenses

    Covers 5 of 15 key features.

    Free plan
    50 out of 100 match$49/mo

  11. Hurl

    Run and test HTTP requests with plain text and curl.

    Covers 6 of 15 key features.

    Open source
    50 out of 100 match—

  12. OpenLDAP

    Open source LDAP software and information.

    Covers 6 of 15 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    50 out of 100 matchFree