Postman vs Insomnia
Verdict: Postman scores 9.8/10 against 9.4/10 for Insomnia on our data score for API testing tools.
Postman is cheaper to start: paid plans from $9 vs $10 per user/month on annual billing.
Both have a free plan.
Postman and Insomnia lead on 1 check each; 7 are even, out of 9 checks (yes/no, price and seats) where we have data for both.
Choose Postman for teams of any size that want one shared tool for API requests, tests and mocks. Choose Insomnia for developers who want a local-first or Git-synced API client with CLI test runs.
Scoreboard: 9 checks
| Check | Postman | Insomnia |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Even | Even |
| Free trial | Leads | |
| Lower entry price (annual) | Leads | |
| Lower entry price (monthly) | Even | Even |
| Smaller seat minimum | Even | Even |
| REST API testing | Even | Even |
| GraphQL testing | Even | Even |
| API mocking | Even | Even |
| CI/CD integration | Even | Even |
| Total | 1 | 1 |
At a glance
| Postman | Insomnia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 9.8/10 (#3) | 9.4/10 (#5) |
| Best for | Teams of any size that want one shared tool for API requests, tests and mocks | Developers who want a local-first or Git-synced API client with CLI test runs |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Paid from (annual) | $9/user/mo | $10/user/mo |
| Paid from (monthly) | $12/user/mo | $12/user/mo |
| Free trial | — | 14-day Enterprise trial, no credit card required |
| Minimum seats | 1 | 1 |
| Platforms | Cloud (SaaS), Desktop app | Desktop app, Cloud sync |
Features
| Tool | Score | REST API testing | GraphQL testing | Load testing | API mocking | CI/CD integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postman | 9.8/10 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Insomnia | 9.4/10 | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
- Only Postman confirms: Load testing.
Pros and cons
Postman
Pros- Free plan includes the API client, mock servers, Collection Runner and local performance testing runs
- Postman CLI runs collections from a terminal or CI/CD pipeline and is available on all plans
- Supports GraphQL requests in addition to REST
- Free plan is limited to 1 user; team collaboration starts at the Team plan ($19 per user/month billed annually)
- Cloud performance testing is billed separately at $0.04 per virtual-user hour and is not on the Free plan
- SSO/SAML is an add-on on Team and only included on Enterprise
Insomnia
Pros- Free Essentials plan includes unlimited collection runs and Inso CLI access for CI/CD
- Projects can be kept local, synced through Git, or stored in the cloud
- Enterprise has a self-serve 14-day trial with no credit card
- Mock server requests are capped at 1,000/month on Essentials and 10,000/month on Pro; extra is $10 per 25,000
- Git Sync on the free plan is limited to small teams (up to 3 users)
- SSO and SCIM require Enterprise at $45 per user/month
Frequently asked questions
How do Postman and Insomnia compare on features and price?
Postman and Insomnia lead on 1 check each; 7 are even, out of 9 checks (yes/no, price and seats) where we have data for both.
Is Postman better than Insomnia?
Postman scores 9.8/10 against 9.4/10 for Insomnia on our data score for API testing tools. Postman is best for teams of any size that want one shared tool for API requests, tests and mocks; Insomnia is best for developers who want a local-first or Git-synced API client with CLI test runs.
Which is cheaper, Postman or Insomnia?
Postman is cheaper, starting at $9 vs $10 per user/month on annual billing.
Do Postman and Insomnia have free plans?
Postman: yes. Insomnia: yes.
See the full API Testing Tools ranking for other options.