head to head · open source
one-api vs rustunnel
one-api has 36,940 GitHub stars, 6,867 forks, 1,036 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. rustunnel has 656 stars, 48 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. one-api leads on adoption by 5,531% (36,940 vs 656 stars). one-api is written in JavaScript under MIT; rustunnel is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. one-api has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, rustunnel 7%. rustunnel was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api-gateway), 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
| one-api | rustunnel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 656 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-01-09 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 48 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick one-api if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rustunnel if
- You want the rustunnel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rustunnel fits your workflow better
About one-api
One API is a self hosted LLM API management and key redistribution system that exposes many model providers through the standard OpenAI API format, aimed at developers, teams and operators who want a single endpoint, a single key model and a single quota surface across providers.
read the full one-api overview →
About rustunnel
rustunnel The open source tunnel that scales with you. Don't pay for idle time. Secure, Rust fast, and Pay as you go. Expose local services through a public server over encrypted WebSocket connections with TLS termination, HTTP/TCP proxying, a live dashboard, Prometheus metrics, and audit logging. You can self host or use our managed service. Using an AI agent? rustunnel ships an MCP server — one click setup for Cursor (then add your API token): For Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, and others, see the agent integration guide or the agent manual at rustunnel.com/agents.md. Table of Contents Hosted service Ar…
read the full rustunnel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is one-api or rustunnel more popular?
one-api has 36,940 GitHub stars and rustunnel has 656. one-api has the larger community by that measure.
Are one-api and rustunnel free?
Both are open source. one-api is licensed under MIT and rustunnel under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between one-api and rustunnel?
one-api is written in JavaScript and rustunnel in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, one-api or rustunnel?
Choose one-api if you want the larger community (36,940 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rustunnel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.