head to head · open source
rtk vs Kodus
rtk has 80,930 GitHub stars, 5,134 forks, 1,642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodus has 1,404 stars, 153 forks, 100 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtk leads on adoption by 5,664% (80,930 vs 1,404 stars). rtk is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Kodus is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. rtk has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Kodus 11%. Kodus 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| rtk | Kodus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 153 |
| 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 Kodus if
- You want the Kodus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Kodus 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 Kodus
Kodus is an AI code review tool for teams that integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure Repos. It lives in the Developer Tools / AI Assisted Coding ecosystem and is distributed as a TypeScript monorepo. The project centers on Kody, an AI agent that reviews pull requests, flags risks by severity, and suggests fixes inside the normal review workflow.
read the full Kodus overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More AI Assisted Coding projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Assisted Coding field.
Frequently asked questions
Is rtk or Kodus more popular?
rtk has 80,930 GitHub stars and Kodus has 1,404. rtk has the larger community by that measure.
Are rtk and Kodus free?
Both are open source. rtk is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Kodus has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between rtk and Kodus?
rtk is written in Rust and Kodus 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 Kodus?
Choose rtk if you want the larger community (80,930 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Kodus if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.