Postman vs Insomnia: which testing tool is better in 2024?
In this article, we will make a detailed comparison of the functionality of Postman and Insomnia and find out which tool is better for testing REST API in 2024. Choosing the right API testing tool is crucial for efficient development and seamless integration of APIs. Let's quickly take a look at the pros and cons of the two most popular testing tools.
Postman
Postman is the most popular and well-known API testing tool. It was originally created in 2014 as an extension for the Chrome browser. Postman later became available as a desktop application for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Postman has a wide range of features, including the ability to create and manage API requests, write and run automated tests, and collaborate with team members. It also offers a user-friendly interface and a wide range of integrations with other tools and services.
Despite all the advantages and versatility, recently many users are looking for a replacement. We recently covered in a large review the 10 best Postman alternatives in 2024.
Key features
Let's look at the main features of the Postman API testing tool.
- Automated testing: Postman supports automated testing, allowing users to run tests automatically and receive test results in real-time.
- User-friendly interface: Postman has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to create, organize, and run API tests.
- Mock servers: Postman allows users to create mock servers for testing APIs, making it possible to test APIs without having to set up a real server.
- Integration with other tools: Postman integrates with other tools like Jira, GitHub, and Slack, making it easy to incorporate API testing into the software development workflow.
- Collaboration: Postman allows users to collaborate on API testing projects with team members, making it easy to share test cases and results.
- Collection and environment management: Postman allows users to organize their API tests into collections and manage different environments for testing.
User comments from AlternativeTo
I'm using Postman when developing using REST APIs and have so far not run into any issues. It has pretty cool features, it's really powerful than most people think
I used to like Postman for getting some quick API testing done, but it's been crippled so much recently that it basically forces you to log in to do even the most basic stuff.
Was great but Postman now hold your data hostage. Opened the app one day and there had been an update that now locks all your local projects, collection, secrets, etc behind a cloud account. You cannot get to your configuration anymore unless you create a cloud account. Huge dick move by the company and I will not support that kind of behaviour. Looking for alternatives now.
Overall, Postman is a user-friendly API testing tool with a wide range of features and capabilities for API testing. Its user-friendly interface, variable and environment management, automated testing, collaboration, mock servers, and integration with other tools make it a popular choice for developers and testers.
Insomnia
Insomnia is another popular API testing tool that offers many similar features to Postman, including the ability to create and manage API requests, write and run automated tests, and collaborate with team members. It also offers a user-friendly interface and a range of integrations with other tools and services.
Key features
Let's take a look at the features of Insomnia, which is the main alternative for Postman.
- Support for multiple protocols: In addition to HTTP and HTTPS, Insomnia supports various protocols such as WebSocket, GraphQL, and MQTT, enabling users to test different types of APIs easily.
- User-friendly interface: Insomnia has a highly intuitive and easy-to-use interface, allowing users to effortlessly create requests, set environment variables, and view responses.
- Rich request editor: Insomnia's request editor supports features like auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and code snippets, allowing users to create requests more quickly.
- Team collaboration features: Insomnia supports importing and exporting request collections, making it convenient for users to share and collaborate on test collections.
- Testing script functionality: Insomnia includes a built-in JavaScript runtime, allowing users to write test scripts in JavaScript for more complex testing operations.
- Powerful data management capabilities: Insomnia supports various data management methods such as environment variables, global variables, and local storage, enabling users to better manage test data.
User comments from AlternativeTo
I'm not sure what the deal is with Postman but it's something with their UI that makes me crazy. You can't copy paste stuff without the cursor leaving the fields and so on. I have tried Insomnia for a while now and it just feels so much better.
I used this client for a couple of years but with recent updates it became so slow that it's just not usable anymore. I am not sure whether Insomnia is based on Electron but it sure does look and feel like it and explains the performance issues. Looking for another open source alternative now.
Insomnia is nice but it doesn't have API tests and it is incredibly slow. I don't have the best computer, but why does an app that sends HTTP requests use up almost 500 MB of memory at first launch? Ridiculous.
Recently, Insomnia, like Postman, has become an overloaded application and is losing its simplicity. It also becomes impossible to use the desktop application without an account and without internet connections. Let's look at another alternative to Postman and Insomnia, which is called NativeRest.
NativeRest
NativeRest is high-performance and memory efficient REST Client for Windows. Desktop application is not using Electron, thanks to this, NativeRest is incredibly fast and consumes very little memory. It's combines an easy-to-use interface with advanced functionality like environment variables, authentication helpers and code generation.
NativeRest is a great alternative to Postman and Insomnia, especially if you don't need the rich feature set that Postman provides. The simplicity and freshness of the NativeRest interface will allow you to take a fresh look at creating and testing REST APIs.
Key features
Let's take a look at the features of NativeRest is a new tool for creating and testing APIs.
- High-performance and memory efficient. NativeRest is 100% native application, that is compiled for different platforms. It starts fast, uses less memory and CPU.
- Working in offline mode. NativeRest can be used without internet connection. You decide to use only local workspaces or additionally create cloud workspaces.
- Simple testing. NativeRest provides a way to easily test your API. Use single line tests to check status, time, body, headers, cookies of response.
- Generating code snippets. You can generate code snippets in various languages and frameworks within NativeRest. Over fifteen different languages.
- Full-featured portable version. NativeRest is available in a portable version as well. The portable version is distributed as a single executable file and does not require administrator privileges.
- Import and export data. You can import data from other REST clients such as Postman, Insomnia. You can migrate without loss earlier created collections, environments and variables.
- NativeRest is a multilingual HTTP client that supports multiple languages. Currently, it supports 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese. NativeRest uses system language by default. You can change the language in settings window without restarting the application.
User comments from AlternativeTo
Great alternative to Postman for Windows. Requires low RAM and runs fast, GUI is very responsive. Special thanks for the powerful environment variables. Thanks dev!
I've been using Postman for 5 years, but today it has become incredibly slow. The performance of NativeRest is amazing. Wow. Other clients based on Electron are very slow and eat up all RAM. NativeRest allowed me to import all collections from Postman.
This application does not support the gRPC protocol, which I am using in my new project. I hope that the set of functions and capabilities will expand over time. There is also no version for Mac yet.
NativeRest is a new tool for creating, debugging and testing APIs. Some of its features are unique and not available in Insomnia and Postman. Try the fastest REST API client and tell your friends.
See description of all features on NativeRest page.
