Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Insomnia REST VS Building APIs with Node.js

Compare Insomnia REST VS Building APIs with Node.js 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.

Building APIs with Node.js logo Building APIs with Node.js

Build scalable APIs in Node.js platform
  • Insomnia REST Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05
  • Building APIs with Node.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-22

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.

Building APIs with Node.js features and specs

  • JavaScript Ubiquity
    Node.js allows JavaScript to be used for both frontend and backend development, enabling a unified development environment and reducing the context switch for developers.
  • Non-blocking I/O
    Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, which makes it efficient and suitable for handling multiple connections simultaneously without incurring performance penalties.
  • Large Ecosystem
    Node.js benefits from a vast ecosystem of libraries and modules available via npm (Node Package Manager), allowing developers to leverage existing tools and accelerate API development.
  • Scalability
    Node.js applications are highly scalable, thanks to its single-threaded nature event loop and ability to handle asynchronous tasks, making it well-suited for building scalable network applications.
  • Active Community
    Node.js has a large and active community that contributes to its continuous improvement and maintenance, providing a wealth of resources and support for developers.

Possible disadvantages of Building APIs with Node.js

  • Callback Hell
    The asynchronous nature of Node.js can lead to deeply nested callbacks, commonly known as callback hell, which can make the code harder to read and maintain.
  • Single-threaded Limitations
    While Node.js handles asynchronous I/O well, CPU-bound tasks can block the event loop, potentially leading to performance issues since Node.js is single-threaded.
  • Maturity of Modules
    Despite the vast ecosystem of modules available, not all npm packages are mature or well-maintained, which can introduce risks when relying on third-party solutions.
  • Error Handling
    Error handling in asynchronous operations can be complex and requires careful design considerations, potentially increasing the likelihood of uncaught exceptions and difficult-to-trace bugs.
  • Rapid Changes
    The Node.js ecosystem is subject to rapid changes, which can result in frequent updates. While this drives innovation, it can also lead to challenges in maintaining compatibility over time.

Insomnia REST videos

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

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Insomnia REST Client Tutorial

Building APIs with Node.js videos

No Building APIs with Node.js 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 Building APIs with Node.js)
API Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
93 93%
7% 7
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
APIs
92 92%
8% 8

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 Building APIs with Node.js

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

Building APIs with Node.js Reviews

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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)

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Building APIs with Node.js mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Building APIs with Node.js yet. Tracking of Building APIs with Node.js recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Insomnia REST and Building APIs with Node.js, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

API List - A collective list of APIs. Build something.

Hoppscotch - Open source API development ecosystem

Spinneret - Record and Automate Anything on the Web

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

Node.js on App Engine - Fully managed Node.js serverless application platform