Insomnia review 2026: see how Kong's open-source API client handles REST, GraphQL and gRPC testing, plus pricing tiers, features, pros, cons and alternatives.
Insomnia began in 2015 as an independent, design-focused REST client built by developer Gregory Schier, and it grew into one of the most widely used open-source API tools before Kong Inc. acquired it in October 2019. Kong, the API gateway and service-connectivity company founded out of the earlier Mashape marketplace, uses Insomnia as the client-side counterpart to its Kong Studio and Kong Konnect products while keeping the core client open source on GitHub.
The application is a native desktop client for macOS, Windows, and Linux that supports REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, Server-Sent Events, and gRPC in a single window, which sets it apart from tools that bolt on GraphQL or gRPC support as an afterthought. Collections can live locally, sync through Insomnia Cloud, or sync directly to a Git repository, letting engineering teams version-control API requests the same way they version-control application code.
Because the free tier already includes unlimited cloud and local projects, Git Sync for small teams, and a functioning mock server, Insomnia is commonly adopted first by individual developers or small teams and later upgraded to Pro or Enterprise as organizations need shared workspaces, RBAC, or SSO.
Insomnia's request builder supports environment and sub-environment variables, template tags, pre-request and post-response scripting, and reusable authentication configurations, which makes it practical for testing complex, multi-step API flows such as OAuth handshakes or chained requests that depend on earlier responses.
Design-first teams can author and lint OpenAPI specifications directly inside Insomnia and generate mock servers from those specs, allowing frontend and backend teams to build in parallel against a simulated API before the real implementation exists. The Inso CLI extends this into CI/CD, running collection tests, lint checks, and spec validation automatically on every pull request.
Collaboration features scale with plan tier: Git Sync brings pull-request-style review to API collections, while Pro and Enterprise add unlimited organizations, role-based access control, enterprise SSO/SCIM, and native secrets-vault integrations with AWS, GCP, HashiCorp Vault, and Azure Key Vault for teams that need centralized credential management.
Insomnia uses a three-tier, per-user pricing model. The free Essentials plan is unusually generous for a developer tool, offering unlimited local and cloud projects for all users, Git Sync for up to three collaborators, the Inso CLI, and 1,000 free mock-server requests per month, with no feature-limited trial period required.
Pro costs 12 dollars per user per month and removes the Git Sync collaborator cap, adds unlimited organizations and role-based access control, and raises the mock-request allowance to 10,000 per month. Enterprise starts at 45 dollars per user per month (self-serve up to 50 seats, with custom contracts above that) and adds native Kong Konnect integration, SAML/OIDC SSO, SCIM provisioning, storage-location controls, and unlimited mock requests, positioning Insomnia as noticeably cheaper than Postman's equivalent team tiers for comparably sized groups.
Yes. The Essentials plan is free and includes unlimited local and cloud projects, Git Sync for up to three users, the Inso CLI, and 1,000 mock-server requests per month.
Yes. Insomnia's core client is open source and maintained publicly on GitHub under the Kong organization, even after Kong Inc. acquired the project in 2019.
Insomnia is owned and maintained by Kong Inc., the API gateway and service-connectivity company headquartered in San Francisco, which acquired the project from original creator Gregory Schier in October 2019.
Yes. Insomnia natively supports REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, Server-Sent Events, and gRPC in the same client, unlike many tools that only add GraphQL or gRPC support as a plugin.
Insomnia is generally seen as simpler and cheaper per seat, with native Git-based collaboration, while Postman offers a larger integration marketplace and more built-in automated testing and monitoring tools.
No. Insomnia is a desktop application available for macOS, Windows, and Linux; there is no dedicated iOS or Android app.