head to head · open source
Hoppscotch vs Apache APISIX
Hoppscotch has 80,331 GitHub stars, 6,110 forks, 820 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache APISIX has 17,135 stars, 2,946 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hoppscotch leads on adoption by 369% (80,331 vs 17,135 stars). Hoppscotch is written in TypeScript under MIT; Apache APISIX is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. Hoppscotch has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Apache APISIX 17%. Apache APISIX was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Hoppscotch | Apache APISIX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 80K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.1K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Hoppscotch if
- You weight community size — 80K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Apache APISIX if
- You want the Apache APISIX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and Apache APISIX fits your workflow better
About Hoppscotch
Hoppscotch is an open source API development ecosystem that provides a full featured client for designing, testing, and documenting APIs. It operates as a web based application, desktop app, and CLI tool, supporting offline, on premises, and cloud deployments. Built with TypeScript and licensed under MIT, it serves as a direct open source alternative to proprietary tools like Postman and Insomnia.
read the full Hoppscotch overview →
About Apache APISIX
Apache APISIX is a dynamic, real time, high performance API gateway and AI gateway built on NGINX and etcd. It provides rich traffic management features, such as load balancing, dynamic upstream, canary release, circuit breaking, authentication, and observability. The project lives in the Lua and LuaJIT ecosystem, and it uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full Apache APISIX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hoppscotch or Apache APISIX more popular?
Hoppscotch has 80,331 GitHub stars and Apache APISIX has 17,135. Hoppscotch has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hoppscotch and Apache APISIX free?
Both are open source. Hoppscotch is licensed under MIT and Apache APISIX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hoppscotch and Apache APISIX?
Hoppscotch is written in TypeScript and Apache APISIX in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Hoppscotch or Apache APISIX?
Choose Hoppscotch if you want the larger community (80,331 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Apache APISIX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.