head to head · open source
Yaak vs Apache APISIX
Yaak has 19,224 GitHub stars, 813 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Apache APISIX has 17,135 stars, 2,946 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Yaak leads on adoption by 12% (19,224 vs 17,135 stars). Yaak is written in TypeScript under MIT; Apache APISIX is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. Yaak has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Apache APISIX 17%. Yaak was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Yaak | Apache APISIX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 813 | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Yaak if
- You weight community size — 19K 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 Yaak
Yaak is a desktop API client for REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, and Server Sent Events. It is built with Tauri, Rust, and React, and it lives in the developer tools ecosystem for API development and testing. The project presents itself as an offline first, privacy first alternative to Postman, Insomnia, and Bruno.
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 Yaak or Apache APISIX more popular?
Yaak has 19,224 GitHub stars and Apache APISIX has 17,135. Yaak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Yaak and Apache APISIX free?
Both are open source. Yaak is licensed under MIT and Apache APISIX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Yaak and Apache APISIX?
Yaak 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, Yaak or Apache APISIX?
Choose Yaak if you want the larger community (19,224 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.