head to head · open source
rtk vs Continue
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars, 5,462 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Continue has 36,400 stars, 5,542 forks, 951 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtk leads on adoption by 134% (85,327 vs 36,400 stars). rtk is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Continue is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. rtk has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Continue 15%. rtk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cli, developer-tools, open-source), 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
| rtk | Continue | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 36K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 5.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick rtk if
- You weight community size — 85K 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 Continue if
- You want the Continue 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 Continue fits your workflow better
About rtk
High performance CLI proxy that cuts up to 90% of the bash output your agent reads Website • Install • Troubleshooting • Architecture • Discord English • Francais • 中文 • 日本語 • 한국어 • Espanol • Português rtk filters and compresses command outputs before they reach your LLM context. Single Rust binary, 100+ supported commands, Full explanation: How RTK Savings Work Installation Homebrew (recommended) winget (Windows) Easiest way to install on Windows — one command, no PATH setup needed: Quick Install (Linux/macOS) Installs to /.local/bin . Add to PATH if needed…
About Continue
Continue Pioneering open source coding agent What is Continue? Note: The continuedev/continue repository is no longer actively maintained and is read only for all users. Continue is a coding agent available as a CLI, VS Code extension, and JetBrains plugin. Documentation To learn how to configure Continue, how it works, and how to customize it, check out the Continue Docs. Final 2.0.0 Release We polished Continue and did a final 2.0.0 release of the VS Code extension, CLI, and JetBrains plugin. This included removing anonymous telemetry, pulling out authentication, squashing bugs, and more. VS Code CLI JetBrains…
read the full Continue overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Continue more popular?
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars and Continue has 36,400. rtk has the larger community by that measure.
Are rtk and Continue free?
Both are open source. rtk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Continue under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rtk and Continue?
rtk is written in Rust and Continue 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 Continue?
Choose rtk if you want the larger community (85,327 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Continue if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.