head to head · open source
rtk vs Jean
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars, 5,462 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jean has 1,387 stars, 172 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtk leads on adoption by 6,052% (85,327 vs 1,387 stars). rtk is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Jean is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. rtk has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Jean 12%. rtk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (claude-code), 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 | Jean | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 172 |
| 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 Jean if
- You want the Jean 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 Jean 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 Jean
Jean A desktop AI assistant for managing multiple projects, worktrees, and chat sessions with Claude CLI, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, OpenCode, PI, Command Code, Grok, and Kimi Code. Tauri v2 · React 19 · Rust · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS v4 · shadcn/ui v4 · Zustand v5 · TanStack Query · Pierre Diffs · xterm.js About the Project Jean is an opinionated native desktop app built with Tauri that gives you a powerful interface for working with Claude CLI, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, OpenCode, PI, Command Code, Grok, and Kimi Code across multiple projects. It has strong opinions about how AI assisted development should work…
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Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Jean more popular?
rtk has 85,327 GitHub stars and Jean has 1,387. rtk has the larger community by that measure.
Are rtk and Jean free?
Both are open source. rtk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Jean under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rtk and Jean?
rtk is written in Rust and Jean 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 Jean?
Choose rtk if you want the larger community (85,327 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Jean if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.