head to head · open source
Insomnia vs api-gateway
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped today. api-gateway has 642 stars, 180 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 6,134% (40,022 vs 642 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; api-gateway is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, api-gateway 28%. Insomnia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (api, graphql), 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
| Insomnia | api-gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 642 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 180 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Insomnia if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 Insomnia
Insomnia is an open source, cross platform API client built with Electron and TypeScript for developing and testing APIs across multiple protocols including REST, GraphQL, WebSockets, SSE, and gRPC. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. The project serves as a direct open source alternative to Postman, offering similar core functionality without vendor lock in or mandatory cloud usage.
read the full Insomnia 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 Insomnia or api-gateway more popular?
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars and api-gateway has 642. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and api-gateway free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and api-gateway under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and api-gateway?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript 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, Insomnia or api-gateway?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,022 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose api-gateway if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.