Stoplight

Stoplight is a modern design-first API development platform that empowers engineering teams to plan, model, and document web APIs before writing a single line of backend implementation code. Now part of SmartBear, Stoplight helps organizations eliminate costly rework by treating API specifications as collaborative architectural contracts.

The platform provides Stoplight Studio, a visual OpenAPI and JSON Schema editor that allows both technical developers and non-technical product managers to design complex endpoints visually or via direct code editing. Stoplight integrates Spectral, an open-source JSON/YAML linter that enforces corporate design guidelines, alongside Prism, which spins up instant dynamic mock servers from OpenAPI definitions.

Stoplight is delivered as a cloud-hosted SaaS platform that connects natively with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket repositories to keep specifications in sync with source code. It offers a free tier for individual projects alongside paid team and enterprise plans with private documentation hosting and advanced governance.