--- title: "Elva vs Insomnia — beyond the request window · Elva" description: "How Elva compares to Insomnia: a catalog read from your repo instead of saved requests, endpoint scores, per-audience contracts, and hosted MCP servers." canonical: "https://getelva.ai/vs/insomnia" lastModified: "2026-09-01T23:11:23.016Z" --- 1. [Compare](https://getelva.ai/vs/postman.md) 2. Elva vs Insomnia 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. [Try Elva free](https://app.getelva.ai/signup) [Compare pricing](https://getelva.ai/pricing.md) Written by the Elva team. Insomnia is a trademark of Kong Inc. and is not affiliated with Elva. Insomnia API 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 saved Per-seat pricing, plan-based limits No governance layer to enforce Elva API 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 commit Flat pricing, unlimited members and endpoints Governance blocks the publish Four real differences ## The gaps that matter once agents show up 01 The 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. INSOMNIA You build requests by hand or import a spec. Nothing tells you an endpoint exists if nobody thought to save it. ELVA Elva reads routes, handlers, and types from the repo, writes the OpenAPI you never had, and rescans on every commit. Nothing to maintain. 02 A 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. INSOMNIA You see status, headers, and body. Judging whether the endpoint is documented, typed, and safe to expose stays a human job. ELVA Every endpoint is graded on design, developer experience, AI readiness, security, and performance, with a concrete fix attached and an AI that can apply it. 03 Governance that can say no A breaking change is not a client problem. It is a decision that needs an owner and, sometimes, a block. INSOMNIA A client has no view of who consumes an endpoint, so it cannot warn you or stop a change from reaching them. ELVA Contracts define what each audience sees per field. Breaking changes block the publish until approved, and the gateway enforces the same rules at runtime. 04 Agents 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. INSOMNIA There is no server to host, no keys to scope, and no log of which agent called what. That work lands on your platform team. ELVA Hosted 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 CAPABILITY Insomnia Elva DISCOVER Generate specs from source code No ✓ Rescan on every commit No ✓ Finds undocumented endpoints No ✓ Import OpenAPI and collections ✓ ✓ Consumption tracing per endpoint No ✓ Unused endpoint detection No ✓ UNDERSTAND Endpoint-level quality scoring No ✓ AI readiness score No ✓ AI fixes applied to the spec No ✓ Score history and trends No ✓ Manual request testing ✓ ✓ Automated test generation Partial ✓ Chaos suites for agent behavior No ✓ GOVERN Auto changelog from code No ✓ Contracts per audience No ✓ Field-level exposure control No ✓ Block-publish on breaking change No ✓ Approval workflows No ✓ Runtime enforcement of the contract No ✓ PUBLISH Docs site Partial ✓ Collection export ✓ ✓ Client SDK generation Plugin ✓ MCP server generation No ✓ Hosted MCP with auth gateway No ✓ Per-tool scopes and rate limits No ✓ Per-agent and per-key call logs No ✓ COMMERCIALS Pricing model Per seat Flat per workspace Members included Paid per user Unlimited Endpoint limits Plan-based Unlimited Free tier ✓ Yes, 1 repo SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise Enterprise Insomnia DISCOVER Generate specs from source code No Rescan on every commit No Finds undocumented endpoints No Import OpenAPI and collections ✓ Consumption tracing per endpoint No Unused endpoint detection No UNDERSTAND Endpoint-level quality scoring No AI readiness score No AI fixes applied to the spec No Score history and trends No Manual request testing ✓ Automated test generation Partial Chaos suites for agent behavior No GOVERN Auto changelog from code No Contracts per audience No Field-level exposure control No Block-publish on breaking change No Approval workflows No Runtime enforcement of the contract No PUBLISH Docs site Partial Collection export ✓ Client SDK generation Plugin MCP server generation No Hosted MCP with auth gateway No Per-tool scopes and rate limits No Per-agent and per-key call logs No COMMERCIALS Pricing model Per seat Members included Paid per user Endpoint limits Plan-based Free tier ✓ SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise 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 model Flat per workspace Members included Unlimited Endpoint limits Unlimited Free tier Yes, 1 repo SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise 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. 01 Import collections and specs Insomnia workspaces, OpenAPI files, environments, and Postman collections. Everything lands in the catalog with its history intact. 02 Connect the repo This is where the gap shows. Expect to find endpoints no collection ever mentioned, usually a third of your surface. 03 Export back out any time Elva generates OpenAPI specs and Postman collections as deploy targets. No lock-in, and your team keeps whichever client they already like. WHEN INSOMNIA IS ENOUGH You 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 ELVA Nobody 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. [Sign up free](https://app.getelva.ai/signup) [See plans](https://getelva.ai/pricing.md)