head to head · open source
Insomnia vs azure-rest-api-specs
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. azure-rest-api-specs has 3,112 stars, 6,029 forks, 3,379 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,189% (40,111 vs 3,112 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; azure-rest-api-specs is written in TypeSpec under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, azure-rest-api-specs 194%. azure-rest-api-specs 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Insomnia | azure-rest-api-specs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeSpec |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 6.0K |
| 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 azure-rest-api-specs if
- You want the azure-rest-api-specs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeSpec
- You evaluated both and azure-rest-api-specs fits your workflow better
About Insomnia
Insomnia API Client Insomnia is an open source, cross platform API client for GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, Server Sent Events (SSE), gRPC and any other HTTP compatible protocol. With Insomnia you can: Debug APIs using the most popular protocols and formats. Design APIs using the native OpenAPI editor and visual preview. Test APIs using native test suites and collection runner. Mock APIs using a cloud or self hosted mocking server. Build CI/CD pipelines using the native Insomnia CLI for linting and testing. Collaborate with others using the many collaboration features. And more including the ability to use 3rd…
read the full Insomnia overview →
About azure-rest-api-specs
Azure REST API Specifications Description This repository is the canonical source for REST API specifications for Microsoft Azure. You can learn more about it here. Getting started If you're a Microsoft employee looking for information about all of the repositories and steps for Azure SDK Libraries Releases, go to the aka.ms/azsdk/join. External Contributors can read Getting Started with OpenAPI Specifications and Getting Started with TypeSpec Specifications. Directory Structure See aka.ms/azsdk/spec dirs. Examples These examples provide a starting point for how a library should be structured, as well as the…
read the full azure-rest-api-specs overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More API Development & Testing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the API Development & Testing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or azure-rest-api-specs more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and azure-rest-api-specs has 3,112. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and azure-rest-api-specs free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and azure-rest-api-specs under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and azure-rest-api-specs?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and azure-rest-api-specs in TypeSpec. 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 azure-rest-api-specs?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose azure-rest-api-specs if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.