Kong Insomnia – A modern tool for working with APIs

16 July, 2025

What is Kong Insomnia?

Kong Insomnia is an advanced, cross-platform API client tool and API testing platform. It was created for developers, integrators and DevOps teams. It allows designing, testing and managing HTTP, REST and GraphQL requests, as well as support for OpenAPI (Swagger), JWT, OAuth 2.0 and many other features needed when working with APIs.

The tool was developed a few years later than the well-established and popular Postman, gaining popularity mainly due to its clear user interface, high flexibility and integration with modern API work environments.

Why was Insomnia created?

Insomnia was originally created in 2017 by Greg https://schier.co/ as an open-source project, in response to the growing need for a convenient, simple yet powerful tool for working with APIs. However, over time, the tool began to gain popularity in the developer community.

In 2019, Insomnia was acquired by Kong Inc., a leader in the field of API management and API Gateway. Since then, Insomnia has been developed as one of the key tools in the Kong ecosystem.

Who is Kong Insomnia a great fit for?

Insomnia was created to support the work of:

Backend developers working with APIs – testing endpoints, debugging issues, or building new integrations.
Testers verifying API responses and simulating edge cases.
DevOps teams and integrators automating testing or managing API configurations.
Architects and analysts designing and documenting APIs using OpenAPI/Swagger.

Versions of Kong Insomnia

Like the Kong API Gateway, the Kong Insomnia platform comes in two main variants:

Kong Insomnia open-source version: completely free.

Open-source Kong Insomnia version allows you to:

Create and send HTTP(S), GraphQL and WebSocket requests.
Import and export OpenAPI (Swagger).
Create collections and folders.
Supports OAuth2, JWT, Basic Auth, etc.
Support for environments and variables.
JSON/YAML editor.
Available on macOS, Windows and Linux.

This is an ideal tool for individual users and small teams, allowing you to ease into using the technology and experience its capabilities for yourself. This version already allows you to use Konga’s cloud mock server on a limited basis, as long as you register.

Kong Insomnia paid versions

When you choose Insomnia Teams, you unlock a set of features that truly make working with APIs in a team setting easier and more efficient.

The biggest benefit? Real-time collaboration in the cloud. API collections are shared across your team, and changes sync instantly – no more outdated versions or confusion about which request is the latest. Add to that version control: with GitHub integration, you can track change history, commit new versions, and create branches – just like in any well-run development project.

Insomnia Teams also includes cloud sync via Kong Cloud, meaning your projects are stored and updated directly on user accounts in Kong’s infrastructure. It supports OpenAPI/Swagger, and the Design mode lets you easily edit and test your API documentation in one place.

Need to test endpoints before they’re live? The mocking feature allows you to simulate API responses – perfect for testing, demos, or frontend development. You can also manage environments with custom variables and settings for dev, staging, or production.

You can invite new team members anytime. While user management features are still basic, they already offer flexibility. Finally, Teams users get access to documentation and email-based technical support, although without guaranteed response times.

Insomnia Enterprise version

Enterprise includes everything in Teams, plus:

Advanced user management (RBAC)
Define roles and permissions – e.g., read-only, edit, publish – for both users and teams.
Identity system integration
Seamless login and user identity management via SSO, SCIM, LDAP, Azure AD, or Okta.
Audit logs & compliance
Full activity tracking for changes, access, and system actions – essential for internal audits and compliance.
Private or hybrid hosting
Install and host Insomnia in your own environment, whether on-premises or in a private cloud.
Full integration with Kong Konnect & Kong Gateway
Publish APIs directly to Kong – managed environments. Test auth, routing, plugins, and more.
Premium support & SLA
Access to priority support, a dedicated help portal, and service level agreements with guaranteed response times.

Is It Worth It?

If you work with APIs, even occasionally, Kong Insomnia is one of the most intuitive and powerful tools available for testing and documenting APIs.

The open-source version is fully functional and more than enough for most individual users.

But if you work in a team or manage multiple API integration projects, a commercial version is absolutely worth considering – especially if your company already uses Kong solutions like Kong Konnect.