head to head · open source
Insomnia vs mcp-context-forge
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mcp-context-forge has 4,487 stars, 870 forks, 912 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 792% (40,021 vs 4,487 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; mcp-context-forge is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, mcp-context-forge 19%. mcp-context-forge 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 | mcp-context-forge | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 870 |
| 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 mcp-context-forge if
- You want the mcp-context-forge feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and mcp-context-forge 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 mcp-context-forge
ContextForge is an open source AI gateway, registry, and proxy for MCP, A2A, and REST/gRPC services. It sits in front of tools, agents, and APIs, and exposes one endpoint for AI clients. The project lives in the Python developer tools ecosystem, and it is licensed under Apache 2.0.
read the full mcp-context-forge overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or mcp-context-forge more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and mcp-context-forge has 4,487. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and mcp-context-forge free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mcp-context-forge under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and mcp-context-forge?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and mcp-context-forge in Python. 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 mcp-context-forge?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mcp-context-forge if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.