head to head · open source
fastapi vs Insomnia
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia has 40,111 stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fastapi leads on adoption by 161% (104,566 vs 40,111 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Insomnia 6%. fastapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api), 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
| fastapi | Insomnia | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 40K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 2.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick fastapi if
- You weight community size — 105K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Insomnia if
- You want the Insomnia feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Insomnia fits your workflow better
About fastapi
FastAPI framework, high performance, easy to learn, fast to code, ready for production Documentation : Source Code : FastAPI is a modern, fast (high performance), web framework for building APIs with Python based on standard Python type hints. The key features are: Fast : Very high performance, on par with NodeJS and Go (thanks to Starlette and Pydantic). One of the fastest Python frameworks available. Fast to code : Increase the speed to develop features by about 200% to 300%. Fewer bugs : Reduce about 40% of human (developer) induced errors. Intuitive : Great editor support. Completion everywhere. Less time…
read the full fastapi overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or Insomnia more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and Insomnia has 40,111. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and Insomnia free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and Insomnia under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and Insomnia?
fastapi is written in Python and Insomnia in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, fastapi or Insomnia?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Insomnia if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.