head to head · open source
Insomnia vs redocly-cli
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. redocly-cli has 1,544 stars, 237 forks, 166 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 2,498% (40,111 vs 1,544 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; redocly-cli is written in TypeScript under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, redocly-cli 15%. redocly-cli 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 | redocly-cli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 237 |
| 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 redocly-cli if
- You want the redocly-cli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and redocly-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 redocly-cli
Redocly CLI @Redocly CLI is your all in one API documentation utility. It builds, manages, improves, and quality checks your API descriptions, all of which comes in handy for various phases of the API Lifecycle. Create your own rulesets to make API governance easy, publish beautiful API reference documentation, and more. Supports OpenAPI 3.x and 2.0 (legacy Swagger), AsyncAPI 3.x and 2.6, Arazzo 1.x, and more. Migration Migrating from Redocly CLI v1 to v2? Here's the guide to make the transition smoother. Usage Node Alternatively, install it globally with npm : Then you can use it as redocly [command] [options]…
read the full redocly-cli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or redocly-cli more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and redocly-cli has 1,544. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and redocly-cli free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and redocly-cli under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and redocly-cli?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and redocly-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 redocly-cli?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose redocly-cli if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.