Evans
Evans is a free, open-source gRPC client for manually inspecting APIs and scripting, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
What Evans is
Evans is a free, open-source gRPC client for manually inspecting APIs and scripting, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its interactive REPL completes package, service, and RPC names, while stateless CLI mode takes input from standard input or files and prints JSON results. When a server has reflection enabled, Evans can use that instead of proto files. It supports client, server, and bidirectional streaming RPCs, as well as gRPC-Web. TLS is not supported for gRPC-Web, though the project documents using the --tls option for secure TLS connections to ordinary gRPC servers. The listed IDL and codec is Protocol Buffers 3, and the compressor is GZIP. Installation choices include GitHub Releases, Homebrew, Docker, and Go; Releases or Homebrew are recommended for automatic updates. The Go installation requires Go v1.20 or later. One limitation: the repeat option does not work with client-streaming or bidirectional-streaming RPCs. Evans is licensed under MIT.
Good
- Interactive REPL completes package and RPC names.
- CLI accepts standard input or files.
- Can use server reflection instead of proto files.
- Supports three streaming RPC types.
- Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Watch out
- TLS is unsupported for gRPC-Web.
- Repeat option excludes two streaming modes.
- Go installation requires Go v1.20 or later.
Who it suits
Evans is for developers who need a free command-line or interactive tool for gRPC API inspection and scripting. It may suit users who work with streaming RPCs, provided they account for the repeat-option limitation.
Verdict
Evans offers both interactive and stateless ways to work with gRPC services, including streaming support. Check the gRPC-Web TLS and repeat-option limits before relying on those workflows.
Plans and prices
From Evans's own pricing page, checked 3 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Evans | Free | Open-source gRPC client |
The facts
Each one read from Evans's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- CLI mode
- Its stateless CLI accepts input from standard input or files and prints JSON formatted results.checked 3 Oct 2026
- gRPC-Web
- Evans supports gRPC-Web, but TLS is currently not supported for gRPC-Web.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Install options
- The project documents GitHub Releases, Homebrew, Docker, and Go installation; it recommends Releases or Homebrew for automatic updates.checked 3 Oct 2026
- License
- The repository identifies its license as MIT.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Notable limitation
- The repeat option does not support client-streaming or bidirectional-streaming RPCs.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Protocols
- The listed supported IDL and codec is Protocol Buffers 3, and the listed compressor is GZIP.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Evans is a universal gRPC client for manual API inspection and scripting.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Reflection
- When the gRPC server has reflection enabled, Evans can use reflection instead of proto files.checked 3 Oct 2026
- REPL mode
- Its interactive REPL provides completion for package, service, and RPC names.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Runtime requirement
- The documented Go installation requires Go v1.20 or later.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Streaming
- Evans supports client streaming, server streaming, and bidirectional streaming RPCs.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Transport security
- The README shows connecting to servers that require secure TLS connections using the --tls option.checked 3 Oct 2026
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