Comparison
Insomnia is a fast client. Elva is the system of record.
Both send requests in a beautiful window. Only one reads your repo, scores every endpoint, enforces a contract per audience, and runs the MCP server your agents connect to.
Written by the Elva team. Insomnia is a trademark of Kong Inc. and is not affiliated with Elva.
InsomniaAPI CLIENT
A lean, local-first client for sending REST, GraphQL, and gRPC requests. Excellent at the moment of the request, and deliberately scoped to that: what you saved is what it knows.Starts from a request someone savedPer-seat pricing, plan-based limitsNo governance layer to enforce
ElvaAPI MANAGEMENT
A system of record that reads your repo, writes the specs, scores every endpoint, and enforces one contract per audience at runtime. Collections are an output, not the input.Starts from the code, rescanned every commitFlat pricing, unlimited members and endpointsGovernance blocks the publish
Four real differences
The gaps that matter once agents show up
01The code is the source, not a saved request
A saved request records one call someone made once. Code changes every day, so the two drift apart quietly until a consumer breaks.INSOMNIAYou build requests by hand or import a spec. Nothing tells you an endpoint exists if nobody thought to save it.
ELVAElva reads routes, handlers, and types from the repo, writes the OpenAPI you never had, and rescans on every commit. Nothing to maintain.
02A score and a fix, not just a 200 response
A green response proves the endpoint answered. It says nothing about whether a partner or an agent can understand it.INSOMNIAYou see status, headers, and body. Judging whether the endpoint is documented, typed, and safe to expose stays a human job.
ELVAEvery endpoint is graded on design, developer experience, AI readiness, security, and performance, with a concrete fix attached and an AI that can apply it.
03Governance that can say no
A breaking change is not a client problem. It is a decision that needs an owner and, sometimes, a block.INSOMNIAA client has no view of who consumes an endpoint, so it cannot warn you or stop a change from reaching them.
ELVAContracts define what each audience sees per field. Breaking changes block the publish until approved, and the gateway enforces the same rules at runtime.
04Agents need a gateway, not a request window
Agents do not open a UI. They call tools, retry badly, and act on whatever schema you hand them.INSOMNIAThere is no server to host, no keys to scope, and no log of which agent called what. That work lands on your platform team.
ELVAHosted MCP servers with OAuth2, per-tool scopes, field redaction, rate limits, and a full log of which agent called which tool, in one place.
Side by side, capability by capability
Insomnia
DISCOVER
Generate specs from source codeNo
Rescan on every commitNo
Finds undocumented endpointsNo
Import OpenAPI and collections✓
Consumption tracing per endpointNo
Unused endpoint detectionNo
UNDERSTAND
Endpoint-level quality scoringNo
AI readiness scoreNo
AI fixes applied to the specNo
Score history and trendsNo
Manual request testing✓
Automated test generationPartial
Chaos suites for agent behaviorNo
GOVERN
Auto changelog from codeNo
Contracts per audienceNo
Field-level exposure controlNo
Block-publish on breaking changeNo
Approval workflowsNo
Runtime enforcement of the contractNo
PUBLISH
Docs sitePartial
Collection export✓
Client SDK generationPlugin
MCP server generationNo
Hosted MCP with auth gatewayNo
Per-tool scopes and rate limitsNo
Per-agent and per-key call logsNo
COMMERCIALS
Pricing modelPer seat
Members includedPaid per user
Endpoint limitsPlan-based
Free tier✓
SSO / SAML, audit logsEnterprise
On-prem deploymentEnterprise
Elva
DISCOVER
Generate specs from source code✓
Rescan on every commit✓
Finds undocumented endpoints✓
Import OpenAPI and collections✓
Consumption tracing per endpoint✓
Unused endpoint detection✓
UNDERSTAND
Endpoint-level quality scoring✓
AI readiness score✓
AI fixes applied to the spec✓
Score history and trends✓
Manual request testing✓
Automated test generation✓
Chaos suites for agent behavior✓
GOVERN
Auto changelog from code✓
Contracts per audience✓
Field-level exposure control✓
Block-publish on breaking change✓
Approval workflows✓
Runtime enforcement of the contract✓
PUBLISH
Docs site✓
Collection export✓
Client SDK generation✓
MCP server generation✓
Hosted MCP with auth gateway✓
Per-tool scopes and rate limits✓
Per-agent and per-key call logs✓
COMMERCIALS
Pricing modelFlat per workspace
Members includedUnlimited
Endpoint limitsUnlimited
Free tierYes, 1 repo
SSO / SAML, audit logsEnterprise
On-prem deploymentEnterprise
Compiled from public product documentation in July 2026. Insomnia ships fast, so check their site for the current state. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Switching
You do not have to throw anything away
Import your workspaces, keep the requests your team likes, and let Elva fill in everything a saved request never covered. Most teams keep the client for debugging and move everything else.
01Import collections and specsInsomnia workspaces, OpenAPI files, environments, and Postman collections. Everything lands in the catalog with its history intact.
02Connect the repoThis is where the gap shows. Expect to find endpoints no collection ever mentioned, usually a third of your surface.
03Export back out any timeElva generates OpenAPI specs and Postman collections as deploy targets. No lock-in, and your team keeps whichever client they already like.
WHEN INSOMNIA IS ENOUGHYou are one or two developers poking at a service, you like a small fast window, and nothing external depends on your response shapes. Insomnia is a genuinely nice tool for that and costs you almost nothing.
WHEN YOU NEED ELVANobody can list every endpoint you own. A partner or an agent depends on your response shape. Someone asks which agent called what, and the honest answer is that you do not know. That is the day a client stops being enough.
FAQ
Can I import my Insomnia workspaces?
Yes. Insomnia workspaces, OpenAPI files, environments, and Postman collections all import, and everything lands in the catalog with its history intact.
Does Elva replace the Insomnia client?
Keep the client for debugging if your team likes it. Elva covers what a saved request never did: the full catalog, per-audience contracts, breaking-change gates, and governed MCP access for agents.
How does pricing differ from Insomnia?
Insomnia charges per seat. Elva plans are flat per workspace with unlimited members.
Point Elva at one repo and see what is missing
Free forever on your first repo. Import your existing specs in the same minute.