head to head · open source
Insomnia vs openapi-generator-cli
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openapi-generator-cli has 1,991 stars, 212 forks, 71 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,915% (40,111 vs 1,991 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; openapi-generator-cli is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, openapi-generator-cli 11%. Insomnia 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 | openapi-generator-cli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 openapi-generator-cli if
- You want the openapi-generator-cli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openapi-generator-cli 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 openapi-generator-cli
@openapitools/openapi generator cli OpenAPI Generator allows generation of API client libraries (SDK generation), server stubs, documentation and configuration automatically given an OpenAPI Spec (both 2.0 and 3.0 are supported). Please see OpenAPITools/openapi generator. The OpenAPI Generator is a Java project. openapi generator cli will download the appropriate JAR file and invoke the java executable to run the OpenAPI Generator. You must have the java binary executable available on your PATH for this to work. (JDK 11 is the minimal version supported. To install OpenJDK, please visit If you find this tool…
read the full openapi-generator-cli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or openapi-generator-cli more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and openapi-generator-cli has 1,991. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and openapi-generator-cli free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openapi-generator-cli under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and openapi-generator-cli?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and openapi-generator-cli 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 openapi-generator-cli?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openapi-generator-cli if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.