head to head · open source
Insomnia vs Gravitee
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Gravitee has 456 stars, 120 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 8,677% (40,021 vs 456 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Gravitee is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Gravitee 26%. Gravitee 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
| Insomnia | Gravitee | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 456 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 120 |
| 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 Gravitee if
- You want the Gravitee feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Gravitee 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 Gravitee
Gravitee API Management (Gravitee APIM) is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Java based open source platform for controlling who, when, and how users access an organisation's APIs, aimed at teams that need to document, discover, publish, and govern APIs on infrastructure they operate themselves.
read the full Gravitee overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or Gravitee more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and Gravitee has 456. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and Gravitee free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Gravitee under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and Gravitee?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and Gravitee in Java. 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 Gravitee?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Gravitee if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.