Insomnia vs Scalar

Comparing two open source alternatives to Postman and Thunder Client and Paw and Apidog and Stoplight and SwaggerHub. Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Insomnia

Apache-2.0

The open-source, cross-platform API client for GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, SSE and gRPC. With Cloud, Local and Git storage.

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Scalar

MIT

Scalar is an open-source API platform:　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　🌐 Modern Rest API Client　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　📖 Beautiful API References　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✨ 1st-Class OpenAPI/Swagger Support

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Side-by-side comparison

	Insomnia	Scalar
License	Apache-2.0	MIT
Self-hostable	No	No
GitHub Stars	40,033	16,183
Forks	2,370	940
Open Issues	896	56
Last Commit	Sep 24, 2026	Sep 24, 2026
First Released	Apr 23, 2016	Aug 16, 2023
Categories	API Development & Testing Tools	API Development & Testing Tools
Tags	#API #rest #http client #api client	#API #api client #rest #http client

GitHub stars over time

Insomnia

Scalar16,183

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