Paw V/s Insomnia: Which is the better API client?

The consumer market for API or REST clients is growing rapidly. According to Forbes, APIs hold the potential to transform any company. Due to the rise in demand, providers offer more advanced and innovative features, better workflows, and lower prices. This is excellent news for developers who wish to improve API testing skills. The primary time-consuming task is finding the perfect API client that fulfills all your requirements. It is very tedious to look through the features of multiple API clients, compare them, try them out during their trial period.

Therefore, in this article, we will look at two of the most popular API clients in detail and determine which one is better.

What are Paw and Insomnia?

Paw is a powerful Mac-exclusive app that lets users debug and test APIs fast. It offers its users an exceptional experience with the majority of the REST services. Every one of Paw’s options offers quick access using mouse clicks or keyboard keys. Using the application, you can create as well as test HTTP requests and view and edit them in the app’s text editor. To ensure that basic mistakes get highlighted, Paw offers full syntax highlighting. It integrates perfectly into a Mac user’s workflow and offers top-tier security. You can also choose an extension to increase the functionality of the application. In addition, Paw also offers SSL client certificates for authentication.

Insomnia REST Client is another powerful API client that provides users with cookie management, environment variables, code-generating features, and authentication facilities on all three major operating systems (Windows, macOS, and Linux). Users can design top-tier APIs using the applications OpenAPI functionality. The features of the application allow users to identify issues, centralize standards, as well as to adapt to an API-based workflow. Insomnia also allows users to centralize & automate tests. Its integration with Git providers offers users to be in sync with changes in design at all times. The application is very famous and is widely used by over 17,000 developers.

Paw vs. Insomnia – What are the Key Differences Between the Two API Clients?

Paw is an HTTP-based API client that provides its users with the tools to test & define their APIs. It features a rich macOS-based interface that allows users to conveniently create applications, examine a server’s acknowledgments, create specialized client code as well as export descriptions. On the other hand, Insomnia provides an effortless and straightforward solution. It integrates nicely with GraphQL and offers an extended range. Like Paw, Insomnia also allows users to create and design APIs and requests, examine a server’s acknowledgments, set up getaways, and use API-based specifications.

Now that we know what the fundamental difference between both clients is, let’s compare the applications based on three crucial aspects:

  • Handling APIs

Paw is fully cooperative and compatible with Open API and RAML description setups. In the application, a “Context” is defined as an object that acts as text data’s representative. It is specifically designed for evaluation purposes, and once its job is done, it gets erased.

Insomnia is a cross-platform API client that interacts well with and facilitates creating HTTP-based APIs. The client combines a simple interface with top-tier functionalities, including verification supporters, code-based production & setting up variables. Users can also opt to apply for specific APIs that do not use OAuth simply by using a relevant header.

  • Automated Testing

Paw is not designed as an automated testing engine. The application’s users can use Paw to search for APIs or browse through them. Once programmers have created a new endpoint or after they have updated the existing endpoint, they want complete access to assign a precisely-created request. Furthermore, they want to visually inspect the response that has been delivered.

Developers who use Insomnia can invest less time pondering about QA featuring extensive API-based tests that join immediately and conveniently with CI/CD pipeline. Using the application, developers can also produce practical API tests using Insomnia’s “Test Suites”. Doing so helps them incorporate API-based tests, obtain efficient functionalities, and maximize development productivity using CI/CD pipelines.

  • Authentication Capabilities & Environment

In the case of Paw, environments and their parameters are divided as per the project’s requirement. Paw also offers users to address customized auth systems by using javaScript-enabled augmentation.

On the other hand, Insomnia is not compatible with system code snippets. Unlike Paw, users can not address auth systems using javaScript augmentations.

Which One is Better – Paw or Insomnia?

There is no denying that both Paw and Insomnia are powerful API clients that pack in tons of valuable features. Both of them feature a simple and easy-to-use interface and offer powerful tools. However, which one is the best for you is entirely dependent on your requirements. Therefore, compare the clients’ features and then choose the one that fulfills your set of requirements perfectly.