vacuum vs AEP OpenAPI Linter

vacuum7.9Visit AOAEP OpenAPI Linter7.4Visit

Higher score vacuum #4 in API Linting Tools 7.9/10 Open source ✓ 0 of 5 features Visit vacuum

vs

AO AEP OpenAPI Linter #8 in API Linting Tools 7.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 5 features View AEP Linter

• vacuum fits best

  Teams wanting broad API linting and reporting

• AEP OpenAPI Linter fits best

  Teams using AEPs, Spectral and VS Code

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Side by side

Feature	vacuum 7.9/10 Visit ↗	AOAEP OpenAPI Linter 7.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	7.9	7.4
Ranking	#4 in API Linting Tools	#8 in API Linting Tools
Best for	Teams wanting broad API linting and reporting	Teams using AEPs, Spectral and VS Code
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Open source	Free plan
Free plan	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features vacuum 0/5 · AEP OpenAPI Linter 1/5
OpenAPI linting	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
AsyncAPI linting	Not checked yet	—
GraphQL schema linting	Not checked yet	—
Custom rules	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
CI integration	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Lints OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema documents Supports Spectral-compatible rulesets and language-server integration Adds dashboards, offline HTML reports and CI/CD workflows	Checks OpenAPI documents for conformance to AEPs Rules cover AEP methods and API design patterns Displays findings in the Spectral VS Code extension
Cons	Primarily a CLI and Go library, not a hosted API design workspace Requires teams to integrate it into local development or pipelines Support channels are community and documentation	Focused on AEP conformance rather than broad API linting Works with OpenAPI, not AsyncAPI or GraphQL schemas Requires Spectral configuration and tooling
Our verdict	vacuum is an open-source command-line tool and Go library for developers and API teams that want automated quality checks on API specifications. Its scope spans OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema, making it a fit for teams working across… Read the review →	AEP OpenAPI Linter is an open-source Spectral ruleset for developers and teams who want to check OpenAPI documents against API Enhancement Proposals (AEPs). It is distributed as an npm package and can also reference its ruleset directly… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• vacuum — where it wins

  • Lints OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema documents
  • Supports Spectral-compatible rulesets and language-server integration
  • Adds dashboards, offline HTML reports and CI/CD workflows

  Where it doesn't

  • Primarily a CLI and Go library, not a hosted API design workspace
  • Requires teams to integrate it into local development or pipelines
  • Support channels are community and documentation

• AEP OpenAPI Linter — where it wins

  • Checks OpenAPI documents for conformance to AEPs
  • Rules cover AEP methods and API design patterns
  • Displays findings in the Spectral VS Code extension

  Where it doesn't

  • Focused on AEP conformance rather than broad API linting
  • Works with OpenAPI, not AsyncAPI or GraphQL schemas
  • Requires Spectral configuration and tooling

• vacuum7.9/10 · Open source

  A broad, local-first API linting toolkit with reporting and CI support.

  Visit vacuumFull verdict →
• AOAEP OpenAPI Linter7.4/10 · Free plan

  A focused Spectral ruleset for teams validating OpenAPI documents against AEPs.

  View AEP LinterFull verdict →