head to head · open source
Insomnia vs php-curl-class
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. php-curl-class has 3,297 stars, 801 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,114% (40,021 vs 3,297 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; php-curl-class is written in PHP under Unlicense. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, php-curl-class 24%. php-curl-class was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (api, api-client, curl, http-client), 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 | php-curl-class | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Unlicense |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 801 |
| 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 php-curl-class if
- You want the php-curl-class feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Unlicense license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and php-curl-class 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 php-curl-class
PHP Curl Class is a PHP library for sending HTTP requests and integrating with web APIs. It lives in the PHP ecosystem and presents cURL work through a class based interface for request methods, response handling, and configuration. The project is published under the Unlicense, has 3296 stars, 801 forks, and a repository age of 13 years.
read the full php-curl-class overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or php-curl-class more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and php-curl-class has 3,297. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and php-curl-class free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and php-curl-class under Unlicense. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and php-curl-class?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and php-curl-class 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 php-curl-class?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose php-curl-class if its feature set, stack or Unlicense licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.