head to head · open source
rtk vs Frontman
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars, 5,462 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Frontman has 721 stars, 50 forks, 236 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtk leads on adoption by 11,735% (85,327 vs 721 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 | ★ 85K | ★ 721 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | ReScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 50 |
| 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 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
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 Frontman
Let product and design ship frontend fixes without opening an IDE Frontman is an open source AI coding agent that lives in your browser. Click any element in your running app, describe the change in plain English, and Frontman edits the actual source files with instant hot reload. It sees the live DOM, component tree, computed CSS, routes, source maps, and server logs, so non technical teammates can make precise frontend fixes without guessing which file owns the UI. Docs · Next.js · Astro · Vite · Discord · Demo What You Can Ask Frontman Frontman is built for small frontend changes that usually get stuck in…
read the full Frontman overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Frontman more popular?
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars and Frontman has 721. 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 (85,327 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.