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Insomnia REST VS API Tester

Compare Insomnia REST VS API Tester and see what are their differences

Insomnia REST logo Insomnia REST

Design, debug, test, and mock APIs locally, on Git, or cloud. Build better APIs collaboratively for the most popular protocols with a dev‑friendly UI, built-in automation, and an extensible plugin ecosystem.

API Tester logo API Tester

API Tester is the first mobile app to test any type of API on the go. Including REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, SOAP, JSON RPC, XML, HTTP, HTTPS.
  • Insomnia REST Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05
  • API Tester Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-06

Main features: - All types of HTTP requests: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS, COPY, LINK, UNLINK, PURGE, LOCK, UNLOCK, PROPFIND, VIEW. - Powerful GraphQL editor with full-scale experience: body editor with Queries, Mutations, Subscriptions and syntax support; variables editor; documentation explorer; request settings and metadata. - WebSocket testing tool. Handles connection and message exchange via WS or WSS. - API calls with any kind of request data encoding and transfer type (query params, URLEncoded params, FormData, raw data, send files from device storage, cloud, remote server). - Settings. TLS can be skipped, redirects can be disabled, timeouts are adjustable. Weak SSL verification can be enabled and replaced with self-signed certificate. - Import request or collection by curl, link or file from your device. And naturally, there is any type of collection for you: Swagger, OpenAPI, Postman, YAML. - Need to share request in seconds? One tap and done. Deep link and cURL command supported. - Integrations: Shortcuts, Widgets, Apple Watch app.

Additional little things: - Autocomplete for most common headers keys. - Syntax highlighting; Auto formatting. - Optimized for viewing on any device screen. - Cookies. Collect, edit, create. - Request metrics. Measure request duration, response size, status code changing. - History of all request calls. - Request authorisation. Basic Auth with password and username. OAuth with header or query access token.

API Tester

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
free
Platforms
iOS Android Mac OSX

Insomnia REST features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Insomnia REST features a clean and intuitive user interface that makes it easy to create, send, and manage API requests without a steep learning curve.
  • Support for Multiple Protocols
    In addition to REST, Insomnia supports GraphQL and gRPC, making it versatile for developers working with different API protocols.
  • Environment Management
    Insomnia allows you to create and manage multiple environments, making it easier to switch between staging, development, and production settings.
  • Custom Plugins and Themes
    Insomnia supports custom plugins and themes, allowing users to extend its functionality and personalize the interface to suit their workflow.
  • Collaboration Features
    With Insomnia Teams, users can collaborate and share API requests, environments, and other resources, enhancing team productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Insomnia is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing flexibility for users on different operating systems.

Possible disadvantages of Insomnia REST

  • Resource Heavy
    Some users have reported that Insomnia can be resource-intensive, leading to potential performance issues on lower-end machines.
  • Limited Free Features
    While Insomnia offers a free tier, some of the more advanced features, such as team collaboration and sync capabilities, require a paid subscription.
  • Steeper Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Although the basic functionalities are user-friendly, mastering the more advanced features might require a steeper learning curve.
  • Dependency on Electron
    Since Insomnia is built on Electron, it might consume more memory and disk space compared to native applications.
  • Complex Plugin System
    While the plugin system is powerful, it can be complex and challenging for users who are not familiar with JavaScript and Node.js.

API Tester features and specs

  • GraphQL
  • Websocket
  • Debugging APIs

Insomnia REST videos

3 Reasons to use Insomnia REST Client in your Exploratory API Testing

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Insomnia REST Client Tutorial

API Tester videos

7 Reasons Why You Should Become An API Tester | 100% Salary Hike Possible? | TheTestingAcademy

More videos:

  • Review - Talend API Tester: Technical Overview
  • Tutorial - How To Use DevTools As an API Tester? | API Testing Tutorial | Day 29

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Insomnia REST and API Tester)
API Tools
91 91%
9% 9
Developer Tools
86 86%
14% 14
APIs
82 82%
18% 18
API
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Insomnia REST and API Tester

Insomnia REST Reviews

Top 20 Open Source & Cloud Free Postman Alternatives (2024 Updated)
Product Introduction: Insomnia is a powerful open-source API client designed for simplicity and efficiency and works great as a postman alternative. It supports REST, GraphQL, and gRPC, making it versatile for various API types.
Source: medium.com
Best Postman Alternatives To Consider in 2025
It is a free, open-source platform that boasts a user-friendly interface and robust features like environment and collection management, code snippets, and test automation. Compared to Postman, Insomnia offers a lighter footprint and a more customizable workspace.
Postman Alternatives for API Testing and Monitoring
Insomnia is a user-friendly tool for API development and testing. Insomnia allows creating and sending HTTP and REST requests, like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, and more. Users can view API responses, including status codes, headers, and body. This enables understanding how the application handles different response scenarios, for efficient debugging.
Top 10 HTTP Client and Web Debugging Proxy Tools (2023)
Insomnia REST is the best alternative for Postman. It has more than 350 open-source plugins, plus GraphQL built-in with multiple protocol support. Since GraphQL is an added value, you can fully automate the entire lifecycle of APIs, build and debug them efficiently and with ease.
15 Best Postman Alternatives for Automated API Testing [2022 Updated]
Insomnia by Kong enables you to deliver high-quality APIs through collaboration. This postman alternative also includes testing suites, which allow you to create functional tests and centralize APIs. With this platform’s streamlined API client, sending GraphQL, REST, and SOAP requests are simple. Defining variables such as authentication credentials allows you to manage...
Source: testsigma.com

API Tester Reviews

We have no reviews of API Tester yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Insomnia REST should be more popular than API Tester. It has been mentiond 129 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Insomnia REST mentions (129)

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API Tester mentions (18)

  • How to Test APIs for Beginners-API Testing Best Practices🔥
    Manual API testing involves directly interacting with the API using tools like Apidog, API Tester or any other available online tools. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • All about Postman Collection
    You can also import this collection to the mobile app and test it. This is possible by using the API Tester. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Defect life cycle in API testing ⚙️
    It is worth noting that detecting bugs is not as simple as it may appear at first.That’s why developers and testers must have good testing tools for this. I suggest you try API Tester; you’ll love it! - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Status codes in API Testing🆗🆘
    How successful response code looks like in API Tester app. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Top 5 cryptocurrency APIs for developers ©️
    Do you know what is common to all the aforementioned APIs? You can easily access any of them by using the greatest app – API Tester :). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Insomnia REST and API Tester, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Hoppscotch - Open source API development ecosystem

RapidAPI for Mac - Paw is a REST client for Mac.

soapUI - SoapUI Pro is one of the most prominent API testing platforms around, allowing developers to quickly prototype the functions of their apps and get them to market with little hassle.

Runscope - Log, monitor and measure your API usage to solve API problems fast.

Thunder Client - Rest API client for VS Code, lightweight Postman alternative