insomnia feature comparison postman

Author: TuannasCodeCatastrophe

app/insomnia/postman-feature-comparison.md

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+---
+title: "Insomnia vs Postman: Feature comparison"
+content_type: reference
+layout: reference
+breadcrumbs:
+  - /insomnia/
+
+products:
+  - insomnia
+
+description: Compare Insomnia and Postman feature by feature, focusing on Insomnia’s open-source flexibility, extensibility, and workflow advantages.
+related_resources:
+  - text: Requests in Insomnia
+    url: /insomnia/requests/
+  - text: Environments
+    url: /insomnia/environments/
+  - text: Scripting
+    url: /insomnia/scripts/
+---
+
+Insomnia is an open-source, desktop API client for designing, testing, and collaborating on APIs. 
+
+Use this page to compare Insomnia with Postman, and learn where Insomnia provides broader or more efficient functionality.
+
+## Core capabilities
+The following table summarizes the overall functional and structural differences between Insomnia and Postman.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Aspect
+    key: aspect
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - aspect: License
+    insomnia: Open source (MIT) with optional paid collaboration
+    postman: Proprietary with team features on paid plans
+  - aspect: Data storage
+    insomnia: Works offline by default and syncs through Cloud or Git
+    postman: Cloud based with limited offline mode
+  - aspect: Protocol support
+    insomnia: Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, SOAP, and event streams
+    postman: Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSockets but sends SOAP through manual XML
+  - aspect: Plugins
+    insomnia: Supports a wide range of community plugins and custom logic
+    postman: Does not support plugins and relies on built-in integrations
+  - aspect: User interface
+    insomnia: Focuses on requests with a clean and simple layout
+    postman: Uses a multi-panel layout for the full API lifecycle
+  - aspect: Platforms
+    insomnia: Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux as a desktop app
+    postman: Runs on desktop and web apps with limited mobile features
+  - aspect: Pricing
+    insomnia:  Offers most features in the free plan with affordable team upgrades
+    postman: Restricts collaboration and advanced tools to paid tiers
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Unique strengths
+The following table lists Insomnia’s advantages and distinguishing features.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia advantage
+    key: insomnia
+rows:
+  - feature: Plugin ecosystem
+    insomnia: Extends and customizes functionality through community plugins
+  - feature: Kong ecosystem integration
+    insomnia: Connects design and testing directly with Kong Gateway
+  - feature: Offline mode
+    insomnia: Operates fully without login or network connection
+  - feature: Resource efficiency
+    insomnia: Runs quickly with low memory usage on all platforms
+  - feature: Self-hosted mocks
+    insomnia: Provides both cloud and on-premises mock support
+  - feature: Cost
+    insomnia: Offers a free core product with optional paid collaboration
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Collaboration and workflows
+The following table compares how both tools manage team collaboration and project organization.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Workspace model
+    insomnia: Uses organizations and projects that sync through Cloud or Git
+    postman: Uses workspaces that sync in real time through the cloud
+  - feature: Real-time editing
+    insomnia: Syncs changes when refreshed; does not support live co-editing
+    postman: Supports live co-editing in real time
+  - feature: Version control
+    insomnia: Includes built-in Git integration
+    postman: Lacks Git integration; requires export and import
+  - feature: Public sharing
+    insomnia: Keeps collections private by default
+    postman: Allows public sharing and published links
+  - feature: Access control
+    insomnia: Restricts invites by domain and supports SSO
+    postman: Uses standard invites; adds SSO on higher tiers
+  - feature: Integrations
+    insomnia: Adds integrations through plugins and CLI
+    postman: Offers native integrations and public API network
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Environment variables and configuration
+This table outlines how both Insomnia and Postman handle environments, variables, and secrets.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Variable scope
+    insomnia: Supports hierarchical variables (global, collection, folder)
+    postman: Uses flat environment files with global variables
+  - feature: Syntax and chaining
+    insomnia: Offers autocomplete and response chaining
+    postman: Requires manual scripting for chaining
+  - feature: Secret handling
+    insomnia: Encrypts environments and connects to external vaults
+    postman: Masks values but lacks client-side encryption
+  - feature: Dynamic data
+    insomnia: Generates values using built-in Faker.js tags
+    postman: Provides limited dynamic variables
+  - feature: Environment switching
+    insomnia: Switches for each collection and supports inheritance
+    postman: Uses one active environment at a time
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Scripting and test automation
+The following table compares scripting features and automation capabilities.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Capability
+    key: cap
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - cap: Pre-request scripts
+    insomnia: Runs scripts to modify requests or set variables
+    postman: Runs scripts through the pm API
+  - cap: Test scripts
+    insomnia: Runs after-response tests with Mocha or Chai-style syntax
+    postman: Runs tests using pm.test syntax
+  - cap: Chaining requests
+    insomnia: Supports full Node.js and external modules
+    postman: Supports chaining but cannot import modules
+  - cap: Library access
+    insomnia: Includes Node modules and insomnia.expect/test libraries
+    postman: Includes built-in Lodash, Moment, and Crypto-JS libraries
+  - cap: Execution scope
+    insomnia: Runs locally or through CLI
+    postman: Runs locally or through the cloud
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Collection runner and testing
+This table compares execution and test organization capabilities between Insomnia and Postman.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Collection runner
+    insomnia: Includes built-in runner with unlimited runs
+    postman: Includes runner with analytics on paid tiers
+  - feature: Data files
+    insomnia: Supports JSON and CSV files
+    postman: Supports JSON and CSV files
+  - feature: Reporting
+    insomnia: Displays simple results and allows export to CI
+    postman: Displays visual summaries and run history
+  - feature: Parallel runs
+    insomnia: Runs multiple collections in parallel through CLI or separate windows
+    postman: Runs sequentially in a single runner
+  - feature: Scheduling
+    insomnia: Uses CLI or CI tools for automation
+    postman: Uses cloud-based monitors for scheduling
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Command-line tools
+This table describes how Insomnia and Postman support command-line workflows.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Inso CLI (Insomnia)
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Newman and Postman CLI
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Availability
+    insomnia: Open source and free to use
+    postman: Newman is open source and Postman CLI requires login
+  - feature: Tests and linting
+    insomnia: Runs collections, lints OpenAPI specs, and exports configs
+    postman: Runs collections and performs governance checks in paid plans
+  - feature: CI/CD
+    insomnia: Returns exit codes and supports Git integration
+    postman: Integrates with CI and syncs results to cloud in paid tiers
+{% endtable %}
+
+## API design and specification
+The following table compares design and specification features.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Spec editing
+    insomnia: Supports OpenAPI, GraphQL, gRPC, and AsyncAPI formats
+    postman: Supports OpenAPI and GraphQL formats
+  - feature: Preview
+    insomnia: Provides real-time live preview
+    postman: Displays preview in a separate tab
+  - feature: Design to testing
+    insomnia: Generates collections directly from specifications
+    postman: Links collections two ways with APIs
+  - feature: Docs and publishing
+    insomnia: Exports specs for use with external tools
+    postman: Publishes documentation in the cloud
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Mock servers
+The table below outlines mocking and response simulation features.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Cloud mocks
+    insomnia: Provides cloud mocks with unlimited usage in Enterprise
+    postman: Provides cloud mocks with usage limits on free plans
+  - feature: Self-hosted mocks
+    insomnia: Supports self-hosted mocks through CLI or Enterprise deployment
+    postman: Does not support self-hosted mocks
+  - feature: Dynamic responses
+    insomnia: Generates dynamic responses using template tags and Faker
+    postman: Returns static responses only
+{% endtable %}
+
+## Documentation and publishing
+This table highlights how both tools handle documentation creation and sharing.
+
+{% table %}
+columns:
+  - title: Feature
+    key: feature
+  - title: Insomnia
+    key: insomnia
+  - title: Postman
+    key: postman
+rows:
+  - feature: Writing documentation
+    insomnia: Writes documentation inside OpenAPI files or request descriptions
+    postman: Uses collection-based documentation editor
+  - feature: Publishing and preview
+    insomnia: Shows live preview in app and exports for external publishing
+    postman: Publishes documentation directly to hosted sites
+  - feature: Code samples
+    insomnia: Generates code snippets in multiple languages
+    postman: Displays multi-language samples with interactive testing
+{% endtable %}