Insomnia vs Scalar

Comparing two open source alternatives to Postman . 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	38,396	14,995
Forks	2,286	839
Open Issues	833	91
Last Commit	May 11, 2026	May 12, 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

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