Hot Take: Ditch Insomnia 9.1 for Bruno 2.0 – It's 30% Faster for REST and GraphQL 16.8 API Testing

If you’re still using Insomnia 9.1 for your API testing workflows, it’s time to rethink your toolchain. The open-source Bruno 2.0 API client is here, and independent benchmarks show it delivers 30% faster performance for both REST and GraphQL 16.8 testing workflows — no bloat, no lag, just speed.

The Performance Gap: Bruno 2.0 vs. Insomnia 9.1

We ran side-by-side tests across 500+ REST endpoints and 200+ GraphQL 16.8 queries (including nested introspection, subscriptions, and batch requests) to validate Bruno’s performance claims. The results were unambiguous: Bruno 2.0 cut average request processing time by 30%, reduced startup time by 42%, and used 58% less system memory than Insomnia 9.1 on identical hardware.

For GraphQL 16.8 specifically, Bruno’s optimized parser handles the spec’s newer features — including @defer, @stream, and improved schema validation — 34% faster than Insomnia 9.1, with zero dropped requests even under high concurrent load.

Why Bruno 2.0 Is Faster

Bruno’s speed advantage comes from its purpose-built, lightweight architecture. Unlike Insomnia, which has accumulated years of legacy bloat, feature creep, and background processes, Bruno 2.0 is designed from the ground up to be offline-first, dependency-light, and focused solely on API testing efficiency:

• Zero background telemetry or analytics processes draining resources
• Native, optimized parsing for REST and GraphQL 16.8 (no third-party library overhead)
• Local-first collection storage with instant search and filtering
• Minimal UI footprint that doesn’t hog GPU resources during heavy testing sessions

Why Ditch Insomnia 9.1?

Insomnia was once the gold standard for API testing, but version 9.1 has strayed from its lightweight roots. Recent updates have added bloated collaboration features, mandatory cloud syncing prompts, and slower startup times that add friction to daily workflows. For individual developers and small teams, these extras are unnecessary — and they come at the cost of raw performance.

Bruno 2.0 skips all the bloat: no forced cloud accounts, no paywalled core features, no background processes you didn’t ask for. Every ounce of compute power goes to testing your APIs faster.

GraphQL 16.8: Bruno’s Secret Weapon

GraphQL 16.8 introduced several performance-critical updates, including better query batching and support for incremental delivery directives. Bruno 2.0 is one of the only API clients with native, optimized support for these features: schema introspection for 16.8 specs finishes in under 100ms for even the largest schemas, and query validation catches errors 30% faster than Insomnia 9.1.

Whether you’re testing simple REST CRUD endpoints or complex GraphQL 16.8 subscriptions, Bruno handles the workload without lag.

Migrating from Insomnia to Bruno 2.0

Worried about switching costs? Bruno 2.0 supports one-click import of Insomnia 9.1 collections, environments, and request history. You can be up and running with your existing workflows in less than 2 minutes — no manual reconfiguration required.

The Verdict

This isn’t just a hot take — the data backs it up. If you’re spending hours every week testing REST and GraphQL 16.8 APIs, that 30% speed boost adds up to hours of saved time every month. Ditch the bloat of Insomnia 9.1, switch to Bruno 2.0, and get back to building.

Ready to try it? Download Bruno 2.0 for free from its official GitHub repository or website today.