Karate is extremely powerful and mature framework, but comes with a downside of steep learning curve and requires some Java-abilities to operate it

The Gherkin syntax of Karate is a matter of taste, although I prefer more declarative syntax

Haven’t tried it yet, thanks for the experience report - what aspects did you find tricky?

Agreed on Gherkin vs. declarative, a t depends on who the test is for. I’d probably only use Gherkin for APIs if my product was developer-focused (eg Stripe, Plaid).