Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Insomnia REST VS Browserlink.vim

Compare Insomnia REST VS Browserlink.vim 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.

Browserlink.vim logo Browserlink.vim

Live browser editing for Vim. Contribute to jaxbot/browserlink.vim development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • Insomnia REST Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05
  • Browserlink.vim Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

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.

Browserlink.vim features and specs

  • Live Reload
    Browserlink.vim provides live reloading capabilities, allowing developers to see their changes in the browser instantly without the need to manually refresh, thus improving development speed and efficiency.
  • Workflow Integration
    It seamlessly integrates with Vim, a popular text editor among developers, enhancing the workflow by providing in-editor capabilities to interact with the browser.
  • Cross-browser Support
    The tool works with multiple browsers, which means developers don’t have to switch tools based on the browser they are targeting, ensuring a more unified development experience.

Possible disadvantages of Browserlink.vim

  • Setup Complexity
    Initial setup might be complex for beginners not familiar with Vim or development tool configurations, potentially creating a learning curve.
  • Dependency on Environment
    Since it is a Vim plugin, its functionality depends on the developer using Vim as their code editor, which may not apply to users who prefer other editors.
  • Limited Features
    While providing live reloading capabilities, it might lack some advanced features available in standalone live reload tools that are designed specifically for complex web development environments.

Insomnia REST videos

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

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Insomnia REST Client Tutorial

Browserlink.vim videos

No Browserlink.vim videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Insomnia REST and Browserlink.vim)
API Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
95 95%
5% 5
Browser Testing
0 0%
100% 100
APIs
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 Browserlink.vim

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

Browserlink.vim Reviews

We have no reviews of Browserlink.vim yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Insomnia REST seems to be more popular. 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)

View more

Browserlink.vim mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Browserlink.vim yet. Tracking of Browserlink.vim recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Insomnia REST and Browserlink.vim, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Browsersync - Browsersync makes your tweaking and testing faster by synchronising file changes and interactions...

Hoppscotch - Open source API development ecosystem

LiveReload - LiveReload 2 proudly presents… The Web Developer Wonderland. (a happy land where browsers don't need a Refresh button). CSS edits and image changes apply live. CoffeeScript, SASS, LESS and others just work.

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

Ghostlab - Ghostlab allows you to test out a newly developed website on a variety of browsers and mobile devices at the same time. To get started, simply drag the web address to the Ghostlab system and press the play button. Read more about Ghostlab.