Insomnia vs Percy

Insomnia is an API collaboration platform for designing, testing, debugging, mocking, and governing APIs. Its client supports HTTP, REST, gRPC, GraphQL, WebSockets, SOAP, and SSE. Design workflows include OpenAPI spec-first work, live previews, and generation of collections, tests, and mocks. Mocks can be generated from collections, OpenAPI specifications, API responses, or natural-language descriptions, locally or in the cloud. The collection runner supports unlimited runs, JavaScript before-request and after-response scripts, chained requests, and CI/CD execution through Inso CLI. Insomnia also connects to HTTP and STDIO MCP servers, supports custom tool parameters, and provides MCP authentication event logs. API data can stay local, reside in a Git repository, or be stored in Insomnia Cloud with optional end-to-end encryption. Teams can share projects, collections, mocks, and design specifications with organization controls and real-time collaboration indicators. Essentials is free; Pro is $12 a month per user, and Enterprise is $45 a month per user. It supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted use.

Percy automates visual testing by capturing DOM snapshots and assets, rendering them across browsers, and comparing results with earlier snapshots to flag visual changes. Responsive checks use configurable widths, while snapshot stabilization freezes animations and other dynamic elements to reduce false positives. Percy groups snapshots into the same build when tests run in separate processes or on different machines. Its review workflow includes status updates, notifications, comments, comparisons, and automatic diff matching. Listed integrations include GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Storybook, WebdriverIO, and Jenkins. Documented frameworks include Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Puppeteer, Ember, Appium, and others. Percy documentation describes testing across real devices and desktop and mobile browsers. The free plan includes 5,000 screenshots per month, unlimited users, and unlimited projects. Desktop costs $199 a month, billed annually, for 10,000 screenshots per month; Desktop & Mobile costs $599 a month, billed annually, for 25,000 screenshots per month. Paid plans have fixed screenshot allowances, and additional usage is charged at the overage rate. Enterprise pricing is custom and unlisted.