Side by side
Insomnia vs Selenium
Both stand on testing and qa. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1
Insomnia covers API design and client workflows alongside mocking, CI/CD execution, and team collaboration. The free Essentials plan has user and mock-request limits, while Pro and Enterprise are priced per user.
Visit Insomnia
Free plan Open source APIExtensionLinux+4
Selenium offers browser automation through WebDriver, IDE and Grid, with no listed price. Anyone deploying Grid should account for its default lack of authentication and restrict external access.
Visit SeleniumThe facts
| Insomnia | Selenium | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Yes |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows | API, Extension, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Pro: $12 per user a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | insomnia.rest | selenium.dev |
| On testing and qa | #6 of 33 | #2 of 33 |
Insomnia: what it does well
- Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, and WebSockets.
- Mocks can be generated from several input types.
- Collection runner supports unlimited runs.
- API data can stay local or use a Git repository.
- Inso CLI supports CI/CD execution.
What to know first
- Essentials limits Git Sync projects to three users.
- Essentials allows 1,000 mock server requests per month.
- Pro costs $12 a month per user.
- Enterprise costs $45 a month per user.
Selenium: what it does well
- Free browser automation suite
- WebDriver supports local and remote browsers
- Five language binding options
- Grid distributes tests across machines
- IDE supports recording in Chrome, Firefox and Edge
What to know first
- Grid has no authentication by default
- Latest Opera driver functionality is unsupported
Alternatives to Insomnia Alternatives to Selenium The whole list