head to head · open source
rtk vs Dyad
rtk has 81,060 GitHub stars, 5,138 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dyad has 21,585 stars, 2,638 forks, 359 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rtk leads on adoption by 276% (81,060 vs 21,585 stars). rtk is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Dyad is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. rtk has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Dyad 12%. rtk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (anthropic, llm), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| rtk | Dyad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 22K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick rtk if
- You weight community size — 81K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Dyad if
- You want the Dyad feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Dyad fits your workflow better
About rtk
rtk is an Apache 2.0 Rust CLI proxy that sits between an AI coding agent and the shell, filtering and compressing command output so 60 90% fewer tokens reach the model, and it is built for developers running agentic coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex against real repositories.
About Dyad
Dyad is a local, open source AI app builder for developer tools and AI assisted coding. It is positioned as a desktop alternative to hosted builders such as Lovable, v0, and Bolt, running on the user's own machine. The project is written in TypeScript and distributed through a public GitHub repository under a split license: code outside src/pro is Apache 2.0, while code inside src/pro is Functional Source License 1.1 Apache 2.0.
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More AI Assisted Coding projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Assisted Coding field.
Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Dyad more popular?
rtk has 81,060 GitHub stars and Dyad has 21,585. rtk has the larger community by that measure.
Are rtk and Dyad free?
Both are open source. rtk is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Dyad has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between rtk and Dyad?
rtk is written in Rust and Dyad 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, rtk or Dyad?
Choose rtk if you want the larger community (81,060 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dyad if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.