head to head · open source
Insomnia vs shenyu
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars, 2,365 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shenyu has 8,836 stars, 3,072 forks, 565 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 353% (40,021 vs 8,836 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; shenyu is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, shenyu 35%. shenyu 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Insomnia | shenyu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 shenyu if
- You want the shenyu 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 shenyu 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 shenyu
Apache ShenYu is a Java native, Apache licensed API gateway for service proxy, protocol conversion, and API governance across microservices.
read the full shenyu overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More API Development & Testing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the API Development & Testing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or shenyu more popular?
Insomnia has 40,021 GitHub stars and shenyu has 8,836. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and shenyu free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and shenyu under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and shenyu?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and shenyu 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 shenyu?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose shenyu if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.