head to head · open source
GitButler vs crit
GitButler has 21,672 GitHub stars, 1,013 forks, 439 open issues and last shipped today. crit has 1,101 stars, 88 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitButler leads on adoption by 1,868% (21,672 vs 1,101 stars). GitButler is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; crit is written in Go under MIT. GitButler has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, crit 8%. GitButler 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
| GitButler | crit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 88 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick GitButler if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick crit if
- You want the crit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and crit fits your workflow better
About GitButler
GitButler is a Git based version control client with a graphical interface and a command line interface. It is built for AI powered workflows and described as a drop in Git user interface replacement for people and agents. The project lives in the Git and GitHub ecosystem, and it is built as a Tauri desktop application using Rust, Svelte, and TypeScript.
read the full GitButler overview →
About crit
Crit is a local, single binary review interface for agentic coding workflows that lets a developer comment directly on generated plans, code diffs, and frontend elements and send that feedback back to the coding agent.
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Frequently asked questions
Is GitButler or crit more popular?
GitButler has 21,672 GitHub stars and crit has 1,101. GitButler has the larger community by that measure.
Are GitButler and crit free?
Both are open source. GitButler has no licence declared in this registry, and crit is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GitButler and crit?
GitButler is written in Rust and crit in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, GitButler or crit?
Choose GitButler if you want the larger community (21,672 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose crit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.