API Strategy Conference – SmartBear Software, provider of software quality tools used by more than one million developers and testers worldwide, today announced a new freeware initiative that will put more quality tools into the hands of 17 million developers at no cost. The initiative will deliver additional freeware to the more than one million users in the SoapUI open source community.

“As API growth has expanded so has the need for tools to manage that growth,” said Adam DuVander, ProgrammableWeb. “Developers of all stripes are consuming and providing more APIs than ever before. It makes sense to provide entry-level tools for free because today's bootstrapped side project might be tomorrow's billion dollar valuation.”

The new freeware initiative aims to put robust tools for quality software development into the hands of developers and testers immediately while allowing them to upgrade to the feature-rich paid versions when it makes practical sense. It builds on existing award-winning free tools and plug-ins, including SoapUI, LoadUI, DéjàClick, DevPlanner, QAPlanner and the recently-launched AlertSite for Magento. With this announcement, SmartBear will begin releasing new free tools and plug-ins on a regular basis in the coming months.

“Providing free enterprise-class tools reinforces our vision of putting the development community first and is part of our DevOps mission at SmartBear,” said Ole Lensmar, co-creator of SoapUI and Chief Architect at SmartBear. “In addition to encouraging innovation and the development of high quality software, the freeware initiative also forms part of our effort to give back and support the growing SoapUI open source community.”

New Download Site Launched

SmartBear is making it easier to find, learn about and download freeware tools with a dedicated Web page on its website. To view the current download list and keep track of new announcements, please visit:
http://www.smartbear.com/free.

About SmartBear Software

More than one million developers, testers and operations professionals use SmartBear tools to ensure the quality and performance of their APIs, desktop, mobile, Web and cloud-based applications. With five million downloads and counting, SmartBear products are affordable, easy to use and ready for deployment. Free tools and plug-ins are also available for download on the website. Learn more about SmartBear, the company’s award-winning tools or join the active user community at http://www.smartbear.com, on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @smartbear or Google+.

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