head to head · open source
RWKV-Runner vs CliRelay
RWKV-Runner has 6,500 GitHub stars, 594 forks, 178 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. CliRelay has 1,047 stars, 132 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. RWKV-Runner leads on adoption by 521% (6,500 vs 1,047 stars). RWKV-Runner is written in TypeScript under MIT; CliRelay is written in Go under MIT. RWKV-Runner has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, CliRelay 13%. RWKV-Runner was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| RWKV-Runner | CliRelay | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.5K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 594 | ⑂ 132 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick RWKV-Runner if
- You weight community size — 6.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CliRelay if
- You want the CliRelay feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and CliRelay fits your workflow better
About RWKV-Runner
RWKV Runner This project aims to eliminate the barriers of using large language models by automating everything for you. All you need is a lightweight executable program of just a few megabytes. Additionally, this project provides an interface compatible with the OpenAI API, which means that every ChatGPT client is an RWKV client. [![license][license image]][license url] [![release][release image]][release url] [![py version][py version image]][py version url] English 简体中文 日本語 Install [![Windows][Windows image]][Windows url] [![MacOS][MacOS image]][MacOS url] [![Linux][Linux image]][Linux url] FAQs Preview…
read the full RWKV-Runner overview →
About CliRelay
🔀 CliRelay A unified proxy server for AI CLI tools — use your existing subscriptions with any OpenAI / Gemini / Claude / Codex compatible client. Multi tenant web panel · request logs & quotas · routing groups & failover · self hosted English 中文 📖 Docs · 🖥️ Management Panel · 🐛 Report Bug · ✨ Request Feature ⚡ What is CliRelay? ✨ Heavily enhanced fork of the CLIProxyAPI project — rebuilt with a production grade management layer, web control panel hosting, and a terminal TUI for day 2 operations. CliRelay turns AI CLI subscriptions, OAuth credentials, API keys, and compatible upstream services into one…
read the full CliRelay overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is RWKV-Runner or CliRelay more popular?
RWKV-Runner has 6,500 GitHub stars and CliRelay has 1,047. RWKV-Runner has the larger community by that measure.
Are RWKV-Runner and CliRelay free?
Both are open source. RWKV-Runner is licensed under MIT and CliRelay under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RWKV-Runner and CliRelay?
RWKV-Runner is written in TypeScript and CliRelay in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, RWKV-Runner or CliRelay?
Choose RWKV-Runner if you want the larger community (6,500 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose CliRelay if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.