head to head · open source
Insomnia vs gpt-load
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gpt-load has 6,821 stars, 747 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 487% (40,021 vs 6,821 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; gpt-load is written in Go under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, gpt-load 11%. gpt-load 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.
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Side by side
| Insomnia | gpt-load | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 747 |
| 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 gpt-load if
- You want the gpt-load feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gpt-load 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 gpt-load
GPT Load is a self hosted AI gateway written in Go and released under the MIT license. It gives applications a single entry point — one base URL and one AccessKey — for reaching many AI providers at once. Providers, accounts, credentials, models, and routing policy are configured in the bundled management UI rather than in application code.
read the full gpt-load overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or gpt-load more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and gpt-load has 6,821. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and gpt-load free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gpt-load under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and gpt-load?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and gpt-load in Go. 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 gpt-load?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gpt-load if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.