Insomnia vs Hurl

Insomnia8.7Visit Hurl8.3Visit

Higher score Insomnia #4 in API Clients 8.7/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 1 of 6 features Visit Insomnia

vs

Hurl #8 in API Clients 8.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 6 features Visit Hurl

• Insomnia fits best

  Developers needing broad protocol support

• Hurl fits best

  Text-based CI API testing

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Side by side

Feature	Insomnia 8.7/10 Visit ↗	Hurl 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	8.3
Ranking	#4 in API Clients	#8 in API Clients
Best for	Developers needing broad protocol support	Text-based CI API testing
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	$12/user/mo	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop	Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email	Docs, Community
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Insomnia 1/6 · Hurl 1/6
GraphQL support	✓	✓
gRPC support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
WebSocket support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Automated test runs	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
API documentation	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Team workspaces	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Available platforms	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SOAP, and SSE Combines scripting, mocking, testing, and OpenAPI tooling Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with local, Git, or cloud storage	Chains requests and captures response values for later steps Validates REST, SOAP, GraphQL, JSON, XML, and HTML responses Creates text, JUnit, TAP, and HTML reports for CI/CD
Cons	Essentials limits Git Sync projects to 3 users Mock server requests are capped on Essentials and Pro Advanced access and storage controls require Enterprise	Command-line workflow is narrower than full graphical API clients Best suited to teams comfortable maintaining plain-text test files Focused on HTTP testing rather than broader API client workflows
Our verdict	Insomnia is an open-source API collaboration platform for developers and teams designing, testing, debugging, and mocking APIs. Its protocol coverage includes REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SOAP, and SSE, making it suitable for mixed API… Read the review →	Hurl is an open-source command-line tool for developers and DevOps teams who define HTTP requests and tests in plain-text Hurl files. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is distributed as a single Rust binary powered by libcurl. The… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Insomnia — where it wins

  • Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SOAP, and SSE
  • Combines scripting, mocking, testing, and OpenAPI tooling
  • Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with local, Git, or cloud storage

  Where it doesn't

  • Essentials limits Git Sync projects to 3 users
  • Mock server requests are capped on Essentials and Pro
  • Advanced access and storage controls require Enterprise

• Hurl — where it wins

  • Chains requests and captures response values for later steps
  • Validates REST, SOAP, GraphQL, JSON, XML, and HTML responses
  • Creates text, JUnit, TAP, and HTML reports for CI/CD

  Where it doesn't

  • Command-line workflow is narrower than full graphical API clients
  • Best suited to teams comfortable maintaining plain-text test files
  • Focused on HTTP testing rather than broader API client workflows

• Insomnia8.7/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A broad, capable API client whose paid collaboration tiers cost more.

  Visit InsomniaFull verdict →
• Hurl8.3/10 · Free plan

  A focused open-source choice for text-based API tests in CI/CD.

  Visit HurlFull verdict →