head to head · open source
Insomnia vs synctv
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. synctv has 2,530 stars, 244 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 1,485% (40,111 vs 2,530 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; synctv is written in Rust under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, synctv 10%. synctv was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (grpc), 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 | synctv | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 244 |
| 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 synctv if
- You want the synctv feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and synctv 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 synctv
SyncTV 简体中文 · Website SyncTV is a Rust implementation of a real time synchronized video watching platform with media provider integration, livestreaming, HTTP/gRPC APIs, and Kubernetes ready horizontal scaling. Highlights Synchronized room playback with real time state updates. Media providers for Bilibili, Twitch, YouTube, Douyin, TikTok, Huya, Douyu, AcFun, CCTV, Alist, Cloudreve, Emby/Jellyfin, FNOS, QNAP, Synology, Nextcloud, Seafile, TrueNAS, direct URLs, and livestream sources. WHIP and RTMP publishing with WHEP, HLS, and HTTP FLV playback. External WHEP, RTSP, RTMP, and HTTP FLV pull with cross node live…
read the full synctv overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or synctv more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and synctv has 2,530. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and synctv free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and synctv under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and synctv?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript and synctv 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 synctv?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose synctv if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.