head to head · open source
Insomnia vs rustunnel
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rustunnel has 660 stars, 48 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 5,977% (40,111 vs 660 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; rustunnel is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, rustunnel 7%. 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 | rustunnel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 660 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 48 |
| 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 rustunnel if
- You want the rustunnel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rustunnel 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 rustunnel
rustunnel The open source tunnel that scales with you. Don't pay for idle time. Secure, Rust fast, and Pay as you go. Expose local services through a public server over encrypted WebSocket connections with TLS termination, HTTP/TCP proxying, a live dashboard, Prometheus metrics, and audit logging. You can self host or use our managed service. Using an AI agent? rustunnel ships an MCP server — one click setup for Cursor (then add your API token): For Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, and others, see the agent integration guide or the agent manual at rustunnel.com/agents.md. Table of Contents Hosted service…
read the full rustunnel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or rustunnel more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and rustunnel has 660. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and rustunnel free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rustunnel under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and rustunnel?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and rustunnel in Rust. 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 rustunnel?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rustunnel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.