Insomnia
Supabase
| Feature | Insomnia | Supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $5/mo | Free / from $25/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, api-designers, small-teams, individual-developers | developers, startups, indie-hackers, full-stack-teams |
| Founded | 2015 | 2020 |
| Api Client | ✓ | ✗ |
| Graphql Explorer | ✓ | ✗ |
| Environment Variables | ✓ | ✗ |
| Git Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Plugins | ✓ | ✗ |
| Design Specs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automated Testing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Postgres Database | ✗ | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✗ | ✓ |
| Edge Functions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time | ✗ | ✓ |
| Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vector Embeddings | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Insomnia Pros
- Beautiful and intuitive desktop application
- Git-based sync for version control of API specs
- Plugin system for extending functionality
- Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC protocols
✗ Insomnia Cons
- Kong acquisition changed direction (cloud-focused)
- Free tier became more limited over time
- Fewer integrations than Postman
✓ Supabase Pros
- Full Postgres with SQL access
- Generous free tier (500MB, 50K monthly active users)
- Auth, storage, and edge functions included
- Open-source and self-hostable
✗ Supabase Cons
- Can be complex for non-developers
- Pauses inactive free projects after 7 days
- Real-time can be expensive at scale
The Verdict
Insomnia is built for developers and api designers, with a focus on api-client and graphql-explorer. Supabase targets developers and startups and leads with postgres-database and authentication.
On pricing, Insomnia is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5/mo compared to $25/mo for Supabase. That $20/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Supabase edges out on user ratings (4.7 vs 4.2). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Both tools are a solid fit for developers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Supabase has a slight overall edge — but if beautiful and intuitive desktop application matters most to you, Insomnia may still be the right call.