Top 5 API Security Testing Tools Every Developer Needs to Know

Blog Overview: APIs are critical to modern applications but also a major target for cyber threats. Effective API security testing helps identify vulnerabilities, prevent breaches, and ensure compliance. Whether through automated scanning, manual testing, or real-time monitoring, choosing the right security tool for developers is essential to protect APIs from evolving cyber risks. Let’s read this blog to choose the right one for your needs.

Are your applications truly secure? With the rapid rise in API adoption, the need for robust API security has never been greater. However, as APIs become more integral to modern applications, they also become prime targets for cyber threats.

Developers rely on different tools and approaches, which result in inconsistent vulnerability detection and remediation. This fragmentation creates security gaps, making organizations more susceptible to advanced API attacks.

With nearly 80% of IT administrators consider greater control over API security and penetration testing tools, the real challenge goes beyond detecting vulnerabilities in individual APIs. It’s about achieving full visibility and protection across all endpoints in a rapidly evolving ecosystem—one that remains accessible to both development teams and CISOs.

So, now the question is - Are your security measures strong enough to secure your APIs from potential breaches and vulnerabilities?

With the anticipated update to the OWASP API Security Top 10, new attack vectors continue to emerge. To stay ahead, organizations need API security solutions that evolve with emerging threats, effectively mitigate business risks, and provide end-to-end protection against API vulnerabilities.

In his article, we are going to explore the best API security testing tools for developers that help them remediate vulnerabilities with code fixes and build secure applications.

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What is the Need for API Security?

Since APIs enable the transmission of sensitive data, it’s essential to implement the best API security practices. Having said that, APIs are prime targets for hackers. Securing your APIs means safeguarding your application's core functions and the sensitive data they process.

As Derek Fisher spoke in the Elephant in AppSec podcast, "mindset we all in the security space need to have: assume that everybody within your network or within your system is adversarial".

To stay resilient, you must proactively model potential threats and embed a strategic action plan into your Application Security program.

If we look at past year’s data, we've witnessed multiple API breaches—including incidents at Spoutible, Trello, and Glow. When breaches become a monthly occurrence, it’s the security teams that stay on high alert, not the hackers.

5 Best API Security Testing Tools

As a developer and penetration tester or security expert, it’s important for you to choose an API security tool that fits your needs. It should enable you to detect and defend against as many OWASP Top 10 risks as possible while seamlessly integrating with your existing tech stack to provide continuous monitoring against both current and emerging API threats.

Let’s go through some of the best API scanners for developers now.

1. ZeroThreat

Designed with developer’s centric security in mind, ZeroThreat is a fully automated API security scanning tool that runs comprehensive scans against every endpoint listed in an API schema. It empowers developers to secure APIs in JavaScript-heavy web apps and Single Page Applications (SPAs) who find challenges in detailed results from traditional application vulnerability scanning.

Merged with Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), ZeroThreat’s API scanner is capable of detecting vulnerabilities, including OWASP Top 10 5x faster, with AI-powered remediation reports for developers. It also helps developers to easily integrate security in every phase of the development cycle to enable the DevOps approach. Try the API scanning tool for free and experience API security without any complex configuration and setup.

Key Features:

• Tests every endpoint and method against OWASP risks
• Detects business logic flaws
• Executes complete API test suites in minutes, not hours or days
• Automatically generates security and logic tests
• 40,000+ vulnerability databases to check threats
• Extensive reporting capabilities, including compliance-ready reports
• Offers free API pen-testing

2. Burp Suite

Used by many organizations worldwide, Burp Suite is gaining a lot of popularity as the best API security testing tool for developers. Its advanced features and modules help pentesters and developers to detect hidden vulnerabilities and issues within APIs.

Burp Suite is a popular tool among many API security testers, which helps them inspect, modify, and replay HTTP requests. Known for its ease of use compared to other solutions, its free "community edition" comes with notable limitations in functionality.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive manual testing capabilities designed for API penetration testing
• Tools like Repeater and Intruder facilitate in-depth analysis, manual exploitation, and verification of security flaws
• Automated scanning efficiently detects common vulnerabilities across web applications and APIs
• Seamless CI/CD integration enables continuous security assessments throughout development
• Advanced reporting features deliver actionable insights, helping teams prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively

3. FireTail

FireTail is a new player in the market with a strong enterprise focus. It’s designed to deliver a unified API security platform, providing application-layer visibility and real-time inspection and blocking of malicious API traffic.

Due to its flexibility and configuration, it allows users to set triggers for push notifications based on configuration and inventory data. It helps you identify, analyze, and protect sensitive data across their entire API ecosystem. It also integrates seamlessly with various notification systems, including email, Slack, and Teams.

Key Features:

• Easy to configure
• A wide range of open-source resource repository
• Suitable for bug-bounty API penetration researchers

4. ZAP

OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is one of the most widely used open-source API security testing tools that automate and fine-tune security regression pentesting of the application.

ZAP is designed for developers and security experts, offering a comprehensive suite of features for manual and automated security testing. It works as a proxy, allowing users to inspect and modify HTTP requests and responses in real-time.

The strong community support of ZAP makes it an invaluable tool for improving web application security.

Key Features:

• Detects common API vulnerabilities, including SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
• Supports both automated scanning and manual attack modes for flexible security testing
• Seamlessly integrates with development environments to enable continuous API security assessments
• Handles automated authentication to test secured areas of applications effectively
• Generates detailed vulnerability reports

5. Postman

Postman is a widely used security testing tool for API among developers and penetration testers, helping them to streamline API testing. Its intuitive, user-friendly interface makes it accessible to every developer.

In fact, its API platform goes beyond the OWASP API Top 10 to identify vulnerabilities. By providing clear security guidelines within the same platform used for designing, building, testing, and deploying APIs, Postman enhances the security workflow for developers. However, it may automatically add headers to requests, which can sometimes result in error responses from backend APIs.

Postman’s API platform streamlines the entire API lifecycle, from development to security. It offers powerful tools for collaboration, enforcing security policies, and monitoring API performance, enabling teams to build secure and high-performing APIs with greater efficiency.

Key Features:

• Built-in security rules
• Supports user-defined security rules using Spectral guidelines
• CI/CD integration
• API monitoring
• Enables developers to automate security tests
• Collaboration features for team testing

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How to Choose the Best API Security Testing Tools for Your Needs

Choosing the right and best API testing tool is essential for efficient and effective security testing. Let’s consider some factors when choosing an API testing tool:

Understand Your Needs

Define your preferred automation settings, allocate a budget, and specify the types of APIs you need to secure, whether GraphQL, REST, or others. Look for tools and resources that align with your security priorities and address critical risks, such as those outlined in the OWASP Top 10.

Ease of Use

Choose an API security testing tool that is intuitive and easy to navigate, even for users without a technical background. A well-designed, user-friendly interface minimizes the learning curve, allowing teams to adopt the tool quickly and efficiently. An accessible platform empowers organizations to strengthen their security posture without requiring extensive training or expertise.

Support and Documentation

Comprehensive support and detailed documentation are crucial for fully utilizing any security tool. Before choosing a solution, ensure it offers extensive resources such as user guides, troubleshooting documentation, tutorials, and an active support community.

Integration with CI/CD Pipelines

Choose a security tool that seamlessly integrates with your existing ecosystem, including CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and development environments. Strong integration capabilities ensure security testing becomes a natural part of the development process rather than a disruptive, isolated task.

Customization Options

Select an API scanner that provides robust customization options, allowing you to tailor the testing process to your specific security needs. The ability to configure testing parameters, adjust scanning depth, and define custom attack patterns ensures that the tool can adapt to different applications and threat landscapes.

Take API Security Seriously with ZeroThreat

APIs play a vital role in modern web applications, making their security a top priority. Understanding where your APIs are and how attackers might exploit them is essential for staying ahead of threats. Regular API security scans help identify vulnerabilities early, allowing you to address them before they can be exploited.

ZeroThreat’s automated pentesting and dynamic application security testing (DAST) automates vulnerability detection with more than 40,000 real-world attacks. Experience our advanced approach to API scanning to mitigate risks before production. Ready to see it in action? Try ZeroThreat for free today.

Final Thought

In 2025, staying ahead in cybersecurity requires more than just protection—it demands automation, adaptability, and proactive risk management. By selecting a tool that not only secures but also streamlines API management, you can ensure robust defense against evolving threats while maintaining efficiency and control.

Choosing the right API security tool is essential for protecting your applications while aligning with your specific needs and infrastructure. Whether your priority is comprehensive protection, seamless integration, or advanced threat analysis, the right API scanner can enhance your security strategy.