head to head · open source
SafeLine vs Yaak
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars, 1,533 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Yaak has 19,224 stars, 813 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SafeLine leads on adoption by 18% (22,606 vs 19,224 stars). SafeLine is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Yaak is written in TypeScript under MIT. SafeLine has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Yaak 4%. Yaak 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
| SafeLine | Yaak | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 19K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 813 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SafeLine if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Yaak if
- You want the Yaak feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Yaak fits your workflow better
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 →
About Yaak
Yaak is a desktop API client for REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, and Server Sent Events. It is built with Tauri, Rust, and React, and it lives in the developer tools ecosystem for API development and testing. The project presents itself as an offline first, privacy first alternative to Postman, Insomnia, and Bruno.
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Frequently asked questions
Is SafeLine or Yaak more popular?
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars and Yaak has 19,224. SafeLine has the larger community by that measure.
Are SafeLine and Yaak free?
Both are open source. SafeLine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Yaak under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SafeLine and Yaak?
SafeLine is written in Go and Yaak in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SafeLine or Yaak?
Choose SafeLine if you want the larger community (22,606 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Yaak if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.