head to head · open source
rtk vs Frontman
rtk has 80,930 GitHub stars, 5,134 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Frontman has 701 stars, 52 forks, 236 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtk leads on adoption by 11,445% (80,930 vs 701 stars). rtk is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Frontman is written in ReScript under a custom or non-standard licence. rtk has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Frontman 7%. Frontman was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai-coding, developer-tools, 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.
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Side by side
| rtk | Frontman | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 701 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | ReScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 52 |
| 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 Frontman if
- You want the Frontman feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches ReScript
- You evaluated both and Frontman 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 Frontman
Frontman is an open source AI coding agent that runs inside your browser and edits your project's real source files from a live view of the running application, built for product managers, designers, and frontend developers who need small frontend fixes without opening an IDE.
read the full Frontman overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Frontman more popular?
rtk has 80,930 GitHub stars and Frontman has 701. rtk has the larger community by that measure.
Are rtk and Frontman free?
Both are open source. rtk is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Frontman has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between rtk and Frontman?
rtk is written in Rust and Frontman in ReScript. 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 Frontman?
Choose rtk if you want the larger community (80,930 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Frontman if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.