head to head · open source
rea vs Bknd
rea has 422,352 GitHub stars, 105,329 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Bknd has 3,778 stars, 147 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. rea leads on adoption by 11,079% (422,352 vs 3,778 stars). rea is written in TypeScript under MIT; Bknd is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. rea has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, Bknd 4%. rea 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
| rea | Bknd | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 422K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 105K | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick rea if
- You weight community size — 422K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Bknd if
- You want the Bknd feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Bknd fits your workflow better
About rea
English · 简体中文 · 繁體中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Türkçe · Русский · Tiếng Việt · ไทย · Deutsch · Español · Français · Українська · Polski · Português (Brasil) · العربية · فارسی REA: Reverse Engineer Anything One MCP for reverse engineering across binaries, applications, and runtime behavior. See a feature you like. Understand how it works, down to the binary level. Website · Guides · Showcases Quick start · How REA works · What you can analyze · Showcases · FAQ · Documentation npx rea agents setup Join the Reverse Engineering Community Discord · Q&A · Show and Tell See a feature in an app that you want in your own product?…
About Bknd
⭐ Live Demo bknd simplifies app development by providing a fully functional visual backend for database management, authentication, media and workflows. Being lightweight and built on Web Standards, it can be deployed nearly anywhere, including running inside your framework of choice. No more deploying multiple separate services! It's designed to avoid vendor lock in and architectural limitations. Built exclusively on WinterTC Minimum Common Web Platform API for universal compatibility, all functionality (data, auth, media, flows) is modular and opt in, and infrastructure access is adapter based with direct…
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Frequently asked questions
Is rea or Bknd more popular?
rea has 422,352 GitHub stars and Bknd has 3,778. rea has the larger community by that measure.
Are rea and Bknd free?
Both are open source. rea is licensed under MIT and Bknd under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rea and Bknd?
rea is written in TypeScript and Bknd 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, rea or Bknd?
Choose rea if you want the larger community (422,352 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Bknd if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.