head to head · open source
Insomnia vs SafeLine
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SafeLine has 22,606 stars, 1,533 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 77% (40,021 vs 22,606 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; SafeLine is written in Go under GPL-3.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, SafeLine 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 | SafeLine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 SafeLine if
- You want the SafeLine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and SafeLine 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 SafeLine
SafeLine is a self hosted web application firewall and reverse proxy, written in Go and licensed under GPL 3.0, that filters, monitors, and blocks malicious HTTP/S traffic before it reaches a web application — built for developers, AppSec engineers, and blue teams who want to run edge protection on their own infrastructure.
read the full SafeLine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or SafeLine more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and SafeLine has 22,606. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and SafeLine free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SafeLine under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and SafeLine?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and SafeLine in Go. 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 SafeLine?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose SafeLine if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.