Staxly

Insomnia vs Novu

Open-source API client + design platform — the developer-first Postman alternative
vs. Open-source notification infrastructure — workflows across email, SMS, push, chat, in-app

Insomnia websiteNovu website

Pricing tiers

Insomnia

Free
$0. Unlimited local. Cloud sync with E2EE. 1 project. Local + Git storage. Up to 3 members.
Free
Pro
$5/user/mo annual. Unlimited projects, cloud sync + Git sync + Insomnia AI.
$5/mo
Enterprise
$25/user/mo. SSO, SAML, RBAC, audit log, dedicated SLA, VPC.
$25/mo
Insomnia website

Novu

Free
10K workflow runs/mo. All channels. 20 workflows, 2 environments, 3 team members, 24h retention.
Free
Self-hosted (OSS)
Open source (MIT). Run locally or on own infrastructure. No usage limits.
$0 base (usage-based)
Pro
From $30/mo. 30K+ runs, 7-day retention, branding removal, advanced email editor.
$30/mo
Team
From $250/mo. 250K+ runs, 10 envs, 90-day retention, RBAC, 600 RPS.
$250/mo
Enterprise
Custom. 10M+ runs, HIPAA BAA, SSO/OIDC, data residency (SG/UK/AU/JP/KR), self-hosted/VPC.
Custom
Novu website

Free-tier quotas head-to-head

Comparing free on Insomnia vs free on Novu.

MetricInsomniaNovu
retention1 days
workflow runs monthly10000 runs/mo
workflows20 workflows

Features

Insomnia · 19 features

  • API Design (OpenAPI)Spec editor + preview.
  • Auth HelpersOAuth, AWS, Hawk, Bearer, etc.
  • Cloud Sync (E2EE)Opt-in encrypted sync.
  • EnvironmentsVariables per env.
  • Git SyncVersion with your repo.
  • GraphQLQuery + schema explorer.
  • gRPCgRPC client.
  • HTTP ClientREST request builder.
  • inso CLIRun API tests + lint specs in CI.
  • Insomnia AIAI-assisted request building.
  • Local-First StorageNo account required.
  • Mock ServerBuild mocks from OpenAPI (Pro).
  • PluginsExtend via Node.js.
  • Request CollectionsGrouped requests.
  • Scratch PadLocal-only mode (re-added after backlash).
  • SOAPWSDL + SOAP.
  • TeamsShared workspaces.
  • Templating EngineNunjucks + JS snippets.
  • WebSocketsWS connection + messages.

Novu · 15 features

  • Activity FeedMessage-by-message delivery timeline.
  • ChatSlack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Mattermost, WhatsApp, WeChat.
  • EmailSendGrid, Postmark, Mailgun, AWS SES, Resend, SMTP, Plunk, Mailjet, Sparkpost, M
  • InboxReact/Next/Vue/Angular in-app Inbox component.
  • LayoutsReusable email layouts with template nesting.
  • Multi-tenancyPer-tenant branding, templates, preferences.
  • Novu FrameworkCode-first workflow DSL (TypeScript) colocated with app code.
  • PreferencesPer-subscriber + global notification preferences.
  • PushAPNs, FCM, Expo, OneSignal, Pushpad, Pusher.
  • Self-hostingDocker Compose / Kubernetes deployment of full stack.
  • SMSTwilio, MessageBird, Plivo, Nexmo, Termii, Sendchamp, Africa's Talking, Kannel,
  • SubscribersSubscriber profiles with channels, preferences, topics.
  • TopicsPub/sub style subscribe many users to a topic.
  • Translationsi18n support for templates.
  • WorkflowsCode-first or visual notification workflows with steps, branches, delays.

Developer interfaces

KindInsomniaNovu
CLIinso CLINovu CLI
SDKPlugin APIgo-novu, @novu/api, @novu/framework, novu-java, novu-kotlin, novu-php, novu (Python), @novu/react (Inbox), novu-ruby
RESTInsomnia Cloud APINovu REST API
OTHERGit Sync (built-in), Insomnia DesktopOutbound Webhooks, Self-hosted (Docker)
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Insomnia and Novu may be affiliate links — Staxly may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.

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