head to head · open source
Insomnia vs apidash
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. apidash has 2,909 stars, 1,007 forks, 209 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,276% (40,021 vs 2,909 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; apidash is written in Dart under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, apidash 35%. Insomnia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (api, api-client, 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 | apidash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 apidash if
- You want the apidash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and apidash 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 apidash
API Dash is an open source cross platform API client for desktop and mobile, built with Flutter and written in Dart. It lives in the developer tools and API development and testing ecosystem, and it supports HTTP, GraphQL, SSE or streaming requests, and AI assisted request work. The README describes it as a lightweight alternative to Postman and Insomnia, with downloadable packages for iOS, iPad, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
read the full apidash overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or apidash more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and apidash has 2,909. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and apidash free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and apidash under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and apidash?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and apidash in Dart. 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 apidash?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose apidash if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.