# Insomnia Scratchpad vs a Local-First OpenAPI Studio

**Short answer:** The scratchpad lets you work without an account, but it is a private vault inside the client. A local-first studio opens the OpenAPI file in your repo, so the work is versioned with the code and not locked in a client vault. Both work offline; only one keeps the file as the source.

## What the scratchpad solves

It removes the account requirement for local work, which is a real convenience. The tradeoff is that the work lives in a client vault, a separate artifact from the contract and the repository.

## What local-first keeps

| Property | Scratchpad | Local-first studio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No account | Yes | Yes |
| Where the work lives | Client vault | Spec in your repo |
| Versioned with code | No | Yes |
| Portable | Via the client | Plain files |

## Why the repo matters

When the contract is in the repo, the requests are generated from it and reviewed with the code. A client vault is a private copy that is not part of the pull request.

## The decision rule

Use the scratchpad for a quick, private call. Use a local-first studio when the work should be versioned, reviewed, and kept as the source of truth.

This is part of the [Powerduck vs Insomnia comparison](https://www.powerduck.com/blog/powerduck-vs-insomnia/). Next, read [migrating to OpenAPI](https://www.powerduck.com/blog/migrate-insomnia-to-openapi/).