Medusa vs Insomnia
Open-source commerce engine — build custom storefronts with Next.js + Node
vs. Open-source API client + design platform — the developer-first Postman alternative
Pricing tiers
Medusa
OSS (self-host)
$0. MIT license. Run Medusa backend + admin on your infra.
$0 base (usage-based)
Medusa Cloud Free
$0. Hobby projects. Shared infra. Community support.
Free
Medusa Cloud Pro
$99/mo. Production support. Dedicated DB. Priority.
$99/mo
Enterprise
Custom. SSO, SLA, dedicated cluster, PCI.
Custom
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
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing oss on Medusa vs free on Insomnia.
| Metric | Medusa | Insomnia |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
Medusa · 16 features
- Admin Dashboard — React-based admin UI.
- Auth — Customer + admin auth with JWT.
- Cart — Multi-region carts with tax/pricing logic.
- Checkout — Multi-step checkout flow.
- Customers + Groups — Customer records + B2B groups.
- Dynamic Pricing — Price lists, rules, customer-specific.
- Event Bus — Async events via Redis / RabbitMQ.
- File Service — Pluggable storage (S3, local).
- Gift Cards — Native gift-card support.
- Inventory + Multi-warehouse — Stock tracking across locations.
- Next.js Starter — Production-ready Next.js storefront.
- Orders + Fulfillment — Full order lifecycle (edits, returns, exchanges).
- Products + Variants — Products with options, variants, images.
- Promotions + Discounts — Rule-based promos, campaigns.
- Tax Providers — Pluggable tax calculation.
- Workflows Engine — Durable saga-style business logic.
Insomnia · 19 features
- API Design (OpenAPI) — Spec editor + preview.
- Auth Helpers — OAuth, AWS, Hawk, Bearer, etc.
- Cloud Sync (E2EE) — Opt-in encrypted sync.
- Environments — Variables per env.
- Git Sync — Version with your repo.
- GraphQL — Query + schema explorer.
- gRPC — gRPC client.
- HTTP Client — REST request builder.
- inso CLI — Run API tests + lint specs in CI.
- Insomnia AI — AI-assisted request building.
- Local-First Storage — No account required.
- Mock Server — Build mocks from OpenAPI (Pro).
- Plugins — Extend via Node.js.
- Request Collections — Grouped requests.
- Scratch Pad — Local-only mode (re-added after backlash).
- SOAP — WSDL + SOAP.
- Teams — Shared workspaces.
- Templating Engine — Nunjucks + JS snippets.
- WebSockets — WS connection + messages.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Medusa | Insomnia |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | medusa CLI | inso CLI |
| SDK | @medusajs/js-sdk | Plugin API |
| REST | Medusa Admin API, Medusa Store API | Insomnia Cloud API |
| MCP | Medusa MCP | — |
| OTHER | Medusa Admin UI, Next.js Starter | Git Sync (built-in), Insomnia Desktop |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Medusa and Insomnia 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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