head to head · open source
Insomnia vs Restfox
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Restfox has 2,775 stars, 146 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,345% (40,111 vs 2,775 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Restfox is written in TypeScript under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Restfox 5%. Insomnia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (api-client, http-client, rest-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 | Restfox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 146 |
| 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 Restfox if
- You want the Restfox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Restfox 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 Restfox
Restfox Web App Install Releases/Downloads Screenshots Docs Compiling Compiling Web Standalone Offline First Minimalistic HTTP & Socket Testing Client for the Web & Desktop Watch video to see plugins in action: Installation macOS Package available in homebrew by using: Ubuntu and other distributions supporting snap Package available through snap can be installed using: RPM, DEB and NuPKG There are precompiled binaries in the releases page. Windows There are also precompiled binaries in the releases page. Docker Start webapp using docker compose Start webapp using docker compose with custom port Start webapp…
read the full Restfox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or Restfox more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and Restfox has 2,775. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and Restfox free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Restfox under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and Restfox?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and Restfox 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 Restfox?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Restfox if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.