Bruno takes privacy seriously. Insomnia takes flexibility seriously. We do both.
Bruno is Git-first and fully local. Insomnia offers flexible storage and strong GraphQL tooling. Both hit a ceiling when your team needs what the other won’t provide.
What Bruno gets right
Privacy by default. Git as the source of truth.
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Plain-text Bru collections you can diff and version
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Open source, no telemetry, no account required
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Genuinely lightweight desktop client
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No cloud sync — ever, by explicit policy
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No mock servers, weak documentation, no monitoring
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“Use Git” excludes PMs, QA, and non-Git teammates
What Insomnia gets right
Flexible storage. GraphQL-first.
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Local Vault, Git Sync, and Cloud Sync, you pick per project
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Best-in-class GraphQL with schema introspection and autocomplete
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Built-in mock servers, OpenAPI design editor, and Inso CLI
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Account required for anything beyond a scratch pad
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Git Sync capped at 3 users on the free planseats
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No self-hosted deployment, Kong’s cloud or nothing
Requestly gives you everything in both columns above, without the tradeoffs in either. Local with Git for the privacy-first crowd, real-time cloud sync for non-Git teammates, self-hosted deployment when InfoSec asks. One tool, one flat price.
Three tools, side by side
The tradeoffs, in plain sight.
Bruno, Insomnia, and Requestly each pick different defaults. Here’s how those defaults play out across the questions teams actually evaluate on.
01 · Developer productivity
Day-to-day, who lets you ship faster?
How are collections stored?
Bruno
Plain-text Bru files on your filesystem. Diff-friendly, version-controllable, readable in any text editor.
Insomnia
Three options: Local Vault for fully offline storage, Git Sync through any third-party Git repo, or Cloud Sync with optional end-to-end encryption. You choose per project.
Requestly
Plain JSON files locally, like Bruno. Or sync them to a Team Project when you need real-time collaboration. Per workspace, your call.
Do I need an account to use it?
Bruno
No. There’s no concept of an account, ever. The app is local-first by policy: “no plans to add cloud-sync, ever.”
Insomnia
Only for the scratch pad. An account is required to access most capabilities — projects, collaboration, Git Sync, mock servers, and the CLI.
Requestly
Required. An account is needed to use the app. Local Projects still store your collections on your device; sign in also unlocks cloud sync and Team Projects.
What does the entry plan give your team?
Bruno
Free and open source for individuals. Pro features (Golden Edition) are a one-time purchase. No built-in team collaboration beyond Git.
Insomnia
Unlimited cloud and local projects for all users, but Git Sync is limited to 3 users. 1,000 mock server requests per month. Unlimited collection runs.
Requestly
Team Projects, environments, and Git-based collab for the whole team. 30-day trial, no credit card.
How strong is GraphQL support?
Bruno
Basic GraphQL support. You can send queries and mutations, but there’s no schema introspection or intelligent autocomplete.
Insomnia
Best in class. Native schema introspection, query autocomplete, and a dedicated GraphQL interface. If your stack is GraphQL-heavy, Insomnia is genuinely excellent here.
Requestly
Full GraphQL support with schema-aware autocomplete and introspection. Comparable to Insomnia, with the added flexibility of local or cloud storage.
02 · Security & compliance
When InfoSec asks, what’s the answer?
Where does my data live?
Bruno
Entirely on your local filesystem. Requests, responses, variables, tokens. All of it stays on your machine.
Insomnia
Depends on the storage backend you choose. Local Vault keeps everything on your machine. Git Sync stores it in your repo. Cloud Sync puts it on Kong’s servers, optionally with E2EE.
Requestly
Your call. Local on your machine, on Requestly’s managed cloud, or on your own self-hosted servers.
Can I deploy this on my own infrastructure?
Bruno
Not applicable. Bruno’s offline-only model means there’s nothing to host. Useful for individuals, hard for centralized control.
Insomnia
Not available. The platform is tied to Kong’s cloud. There is no self-hosted option. For air-gapped or regulated environments, that’s where evaluations stop.
Requestly
Yes. Deploy the entire platform on your own servers. Air-gapped environments supported.
03 · Team & collaboration
When the team grows, what breaks?
How do teams collaborate?
Bruno
Through Git. Pull requests, merges, branches — the same workflow as code. Works perfectly for developers. Harder for PMs, designers, or QA who don’t live in Git.
Insomnia
Through cloud workspaces with real-time sync, or Git Sync for developer-centric teams. Git Sync beyond 3 users requires the Pro plan.
Requestly
Both. Git for the developers who want it, real-time Team Projects for everyone else. Same source of truth, different access modes.
What does scaling the team actually cost?
Bruno
Free for the open-source core. Golden Edition is a one-time $19 purchase per user. No ongoing costs — but no built-in team features either.
Insomnia
Essentials (free, Git Sync for 3), Pro $12, Enterprise $45 per user per month. SSO and storage controls require Enterprise.
Requestly
Team at flat $12 or Team Pro at $18 per user, per month. Everything included, no tier ladder.
Simple, predictable pricing
Start with a 30-day trial. Upgrade when you need Pro features. No hidden add-ons, no per-feature paywalls.
Team
$12 / user / month $10 / user / month, billed annually
Everything a growing team needs to build, test, and ship APIs.
Included
- Unlimited local projects & collections
- Git-based collaboration
- Team Projects & real-time collaboration
- Scripting & environments
- Import from Postman, OpenAPI
Team Pro
$18 / user / month $15 / user / month, billed annually
Scale, compliance, and priority support for growing teams.
Everything in Team, plus
- Unlimited projects & collaborators
- AI-powered API testing
- Test reports & AWS Secrets Manager
- SOC 2 report
- Priority support
Bruno’s privacy. Insomnia’s flexibility. No tradeoff
Local with Git, real-time team sync, or self-hosted — one tool, your rules