head to head · open source
Insomnia vs Yaak
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars, 2,388 forks, 874 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Yaak has 19,399 stars, 840 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Insomnia leads on adoption by 107% (40,111 vs 19,399 stars). Insomnia is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Yaak is written in TypeScript under MIT. Insomnia has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Yaak 4%. Insomnia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (graphql, grpc, http-client), 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 | Yaak | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 19K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 840 |
| 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 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 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 Yaak
💫 Yaak ➟ Desktop API Client 💫 A fast, privacy first API client for REST, GraphQL, SSE, WebSocket, and gRPC – built with Tauri, Rust, and React. Development is funded by community purchased licenses . You can also become a sponsor to have your logo appear below. 💖 Features Yaak is an offline first API client designed to stay out of your way while giving you everything you need when you need it. Built with Tauri, Rust, and React, it’s fast, lightweight, and private. No telemetry, no VC funding, and no cloud lock in. 🌐 Work with any API Import collections from Postman, Insomnia, OpenAPI, Swagger, or Curl. Send…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Insomnia or Yaak more popular?
Insomnia has 40,111 GitHub stars and Yaak has 19,399. Insomnia has the larger community by that measure.
Are Insomnia and Yaak free?
Both are open source. Insomnia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Yaak under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Insomnia and Yaak?
Insomnia is written in TypeScript 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, Insomnia or Yaak?
Choose Insomnia if you want the larger community (40,111 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Yaak if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.