head to head · open source
Insomnia vs NelmioApiDocBundle
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NelmioApiDocBundle has 2,368 stars, 910 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,590% (40,022 vs 2,368 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; NelmioApiDocBundle is written in PHP under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, NelmioApiDocBundle 38%. NelmioApiDocBundle 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 | NelmioApiDocBundle | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 910 |
| 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 NelmioApiDocBundle if
- You want the NelmioApiDocBundle feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and NelmioApiDocBundle 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 NelmioApiDocBundle
NelmioApiDocBundle is an MIT licensed Symfony bundle that generates REST API documentation from PHP 8 attributes, built for PHP and Symfony teams that want OpenAPI descriptions derived from their code rather than written and maintained by hand.
read the full NelmioApiDocBundle overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or NelmioApiDocBundle more popular?
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars and NelmioApiDocBundle has 2,368. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and NelmioApiDocBundle free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and NelmioApiDocBundle under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and NelmioApiDocBundle?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and NelmioApiDocBundle in PHP. 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 NelmioApiDocBundle?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,022 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose NelmioApiDocBundle if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.