head to head · open source
Insomnia vs graphql-mesh
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. graphql-mesh has 3,514 stars, 361 forks, 177 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,041% (40,111 vs 3,514 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; graphql-mesh is written in TypeScript under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, graphql-mesh 10%. Insomnia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (graphql, grpc, rest-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
| Insomnia | graphql-mesh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 361 |
| 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 graphql-mesh if
- You want the graphql-mesh feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and graphql-mesh 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 graphql-mesh
GraphQL Mesh GraphQL Federation framework for any API Go to documentation GraphQL Mesh is a GraphQL Federation framework and gateway for both GraphQL Federation and non GraphQL Federation subgraphs, non GraphQL services, such as REST and gRPC, and also databases such as MongoDB, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. GraphQL Mesh allows you to use GraphQL query language to access data in remote APIs that don't run GraphQL (and also ones that do run GraphQL). It can be used as a gateway to other services or run as a local GraphQL schema that aggregates data from remote APIs. The goal of GraphQL Mesh is to let developers easily…
read the full graphql-mesh overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or graphql-mesh more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and graphql-mesh has 3,514. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and graphql-mesh free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and graphql-mesh under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and graphql-mesh?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and graphql-mesh 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, Insomnia or graphql-mesh?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose graphql-mesh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.