Insomnia vs Postman is mostly a question of team size and where you want your data. Insomnia, made by Kong, lets up to 3 users share Git Sync projects on its free Essentials plan and offers a local only Scratch Pad with no login. Postman's Free plan includes 1 user, so small teams usually need its Team plan. Postman offers more built in monitoring, documentation and automation, while Insomnia gives you more control over whether projects live locally, in Git or in the cloud.
Both tools send requests, run tests and organise collections well, so the decision rarely comes down to features you'll use on day one. It comes down to how many people need access, how you feel about cloud storage, and what you'll pay when the team grows. Here's the honest comparison from each vendor's own pages.
Insomnia vs Postman at a glance
| Insomnia | Postman | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Kong | Postman |
| Free plan | Essentials, $0 per user per month | Free, 1 user |
| Free plan sharing | Unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users | No team collaboration on Free |
| Where projects can live | Local, Git or cloud, with optional end to end encryption | Postman workspaces, with Native Git |
| No login option | Scratch Pad, local only, free forever | Not offered |
| Collection runs on free plan | Unlimited | Collection Runner included |
| Mock server requests on free plan | 1,000 per month | Mock servers included |
| Trial | Free 14 day Enterprise trial, no credit card | Teams can trial Enterprise features |
Pricing compared, as of October 2026
| Plan level | Insomnia | Postman |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Essentials, $0 | Free, 1 user |
| Individual | Not a separate tier | Solo, $9 per month billed annually |
| Team | Pro, $12 per user per month | Team, $19 per user per month billed annually |
| Enterprise | $45 per user per month, self serve up to 50 users | Contact sales |
Insomnia's Pro plan adds unlimited users, Git Sync access for everyone, unlimited organisations, role based access control and 10,000 mock server requests a month. Its Enterprise plan adds SSO and SCIM, the ability to mandate where projects are stored, vault integrations and unlimited mock requests. Postman's Team plan adds team collaboration, unlimited workspace and collection viewers and basic role based access control.
The details that tip the decision
Free sharing for very small teams
If you're a team of two or three, Insomnia's free tier goes further. Its pricing page includes unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users, while Postman's table lists 1 user on Free and on Solo. That one difference can save a small agency a paid plan for months.
Control over storage
Insomnia lets you work entirely offline with local storage, use your Git repository as the backend, or collaborate in the cloud with optional end to end encryption. On Enterprise you can mandate which of those your whole organisation uses. If you handle client APIs under strict contracts, that choice matters.
Insomnia's homepage says teamwork features are available on every plan, and Enterprise adds domain capture, invite control and access to its SOC 2 compliance reports and latest security testing results. If a client's security questionnaire is part of winning work, ask for those documents early in your trial rather than after you've moved everything across.
The breadth of the platform
Postman's pricing page lists a wider set of hosted extras: API monitoring, custom branded documentation, Flows for automation, cloud performance testing and an API catalog on Enterprise. If your team wants one place for all of that, Postman covers more ground.
What you get for free on each
Insomnia's Essentials plan includes more than the headline suggests. Its pricing page lists unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users, unlimited cloud and local projects, the Inso CLI for CI/CD automation, unlimited collection runs, unlimited environments, 1,000 mock server requests a month, end to end encryption, custom linting rules and plugins.
Postman's Free plan gives one person the API client, collections and environments, specs and mock servers, Native Git, the Collection Runner, manual Flows and a monthly allowance of AI credits. It's a strong toolkit for a single developer, with the 1 user limit as the main constraint.
Protocols and AI testing
Both handle the everyday work. Insomnia's comparison lists clients for REST, gRPC, GraphQL, SOAP, WebSocket, Socket.IO and SSE, plus MCP clients so you can connect to MCP servers and inspect their tools, resources and prompts. Postman lists a multi protocol API client and an MCP client too. If your team is building AI agents that call MCP servers, you can test them in either tool.
A newer rival is compared in our Bruno versus Postman guide.
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How to choose
- Count the people who need to edit collections. One person can use either for free. Two or three people can stay free on Insomnia's Git Sync.
- Decide where your data should live. If cloud sync worries you, Insomnia's local and Git options give you more control.
- List the hosted features you'll use. Monitoring, branded docs and automation lean towards Postman.
- Price the team you'll have in a year, not the team you have today, using each vendor's per user figures.
For more options, I've put together the best API testing tools for developers and QA teams. If you're already on Postman and want the full plan detail, here are Postman's plans and prices.
My verdict
For a small team that wants to share for free and keep tight control of where API data sits, Insomnia is the better fit. For a team that wants a hosted platform with monitoring, documentation and automation in one place, and is happy to pay per user, Postman does more. If you can't decide, start the free tiers side by side on one real project.
To see exactly what the free tier covers, read our guide to what Postman gives away free.
Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia better than Postman?
Insomnia suits small teams that want free sharing and control over storage. Postman suits teams that want hosted monitoring, documentation and automation.
Is Insomnia free?
Yes. Insomnia's Essentials plan is $0 per user per month and includes unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users, as of October 2026.
Can I use Insomnia without logging in?
Yes. Insomnia offers a local only Scratch Pad that it describes as free forever, with no login required.
How much does Insomnia Pro cost?
Insomnia lists Pro at $12 per user per month, as of October 2026.
Who makes Insomnia?
Insomnia is made by Kong, and its newest release adds native Kong Konnect integration.
