head to head · open source
Insomnia vs scalecube-services
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped today. scalecube-services has 638 stars, 111 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Insomnia leads on adoption by 6,173% (40,022 vs 638 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; scalecube-services is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, scalecube-services 17%. 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 | scalecube-services | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 638 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 111 |
| 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 scalecube-services if
- You want the scalecube-services feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and scalecube-services 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 scalecube-services
scalecube services MICROSERVICES 2.0 ScaleCube is a microservices library designed for high throughput and lower latency, catering to scalable and reactive system needs. It excels in API gateway integration, service discovery, and load balancing, employing the SWIM protocol for efficient cluster management. Its modular architecture supports various pluggable communication modules, enabling seamless and flexible deployments. With a focus on real time stream processing and fault tolerance, ScaleCube ensures optimal performance and reliability for distributed microservices environments. Reactive microservices commun…
read the full scalecube-services overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or scalecube-services more popular?
Insomnia has 40,022 GitHub stars and scalecube-services has 638. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and scalecube-services free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and scalecube-services under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and scalecube-services?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and scalecube-services in Java. 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 scalecube-services?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,022 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose scalecube-services if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.