head to head · open source
Bruno vs api-gateway
Bruno has 47,027 GitHub stars, 2,890 forks, 1,831 open issues and last shipped yesterday. api-gateway has 642 stars, 180 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Bruno leads on adoption by 7,225% (47,027 vs 642 stars). Bruno is written in JavaScript under MIT; api-gateway is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Bruno has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, api-gateway 28%. api-gateway was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (openapi), 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
| Bruno | api-gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 642 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 180 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bruno if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick api-gateway if
- You want the api-gateway feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and api-gateway fits your workflow better
About Bruno
Bruno is a lightweight, open source API client and IDE for exploring and testing APIs, built for developers and teams who want their request collections stored as plain text in a folder on their own filesystem rather than in a vendor's cloud.
read the full Bruno overview →
About api-gateway
Membrane API Gateway for REST, OpenAPI, and GraphQL with first class Legacy Support for XML, SOAP, and WSDL Built on the Java platform , Membrane bridges legacy and modern APIs. It supports XML to JSON transformation, WSDL to OpenAPI conversion,SOAP to REST integration, and validation against OpenAPI and WSDL . For modern APIs, Membrane supports technologies such as OAuth 2, JWT, and AI, along with a broad range of transformation, and observability features. It is easy to set up and deploy, either as a container or as a Java application. Try Membrane in 5 Minutes Start the API Gateway Run Membrane as a container …
read the full api-gateway overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bruno or api-gateway more popular?
Bruno has 47,027 GitHub stars and api-gateway has 642. Bruno has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bruno and api-gateway free?
Both are open source. Bruno is licensed under MIT and api-gateway under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Bruno and api-gateway?
Bruno is written in JavaScript and api-gateway in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Bruno or api-gateway?
Choose Bruno if you want the larger community (47,027 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose api-gateway if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.