head to head · open source
Insomnia vs openapi-generator-cli
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openapi-generator-cli has 1,977 stars, 208 forks, 71 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,924% (40,022 vs 1,977 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 | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 208 |
| 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 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 openapi-generator-cli
@openapitools/openapi generator cli is a Node package that wraps the Java based OpenAPI Generator, letting JavaScript and TypeScript developers generate API client libraries, server stubs, and documentation from OpenAPI 2.0 and 3.0 specifications without invoking the upstream Java toolchain by hand.
read the full openapi-generator-cli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or openapi-generator-cli more popular?
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars and openapi-generator-cli has 1,977. 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 (40,022 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.