head to head · open source
openapi-generator vs kiota
openapi-generator has 26,748 GitHub stars, 7,675 forks, 5,751 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kiota has 3,823 stars, 334 forks, 222 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openapi-generator leads on adoption by 600% (26,748 vs 3,823 stars). openapi-generator is written in Java under Apache-2.0; kiota is written in C# under MIT. openapi-generator has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, kiota 9%. kiota was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (api, hacktoberfest, openapi, openapi3), 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
| openapi-generator | kiota | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.7K | ⑂ 334 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick openapi-generator if
- You weight community size — 27K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kiota if
- You want the kiota feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and kiota fits your workflow better
About openapi-generator
OpenAPI Generator is an Apache 2.0 licensed Java tool that generates API client libraries, server stubs, documentation, and configuration automatically from an OpenAPI Specification, and it is built for development teams that keep a machine readable API description and want generated code to stay in step with it.
read the full openapi-generator overview →
About kiota
Kiota is a command line tool from Microsoft that generates a strongly typed HTTP API client from any OpenAPI described API, aimed at developers who would otherwise need to learn and take a dependency on a separate SDK for every HTTP API they call.
read the full kiota overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is openapi-generator or kiota more popular?
openapi-generator has 26,748 GitHub stars and kiota has 3,823. openapi-generator has the larger community by that measure.
Are openapi-generator and kiota free?
Both are open source. openapi-generator is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kiota under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between openapi-generator and kiota?
openapi-generator is written in Java and kiota in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, openapi-generator or kiota?
Choose openapi-generator if you want the larger community (26,748 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kiota if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.