Source: https://seerepo.com/compare/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/vs/rtk-ai/rtk
Markdown source: https://seerepo.com/compare/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/vs/rtk-ai/rtk.md
Description: headroom and rtk share 8 technologies: axum, rusqlite, SQLite, Tokio, tower, tiktoken-rs, tracing, and tracing-subscriber. headroom is written in Python and rtk in Rust.

# headroom vs rtk

headroom and rtk share 8 technologies: axum, rusqlite, SQLite, Tokio, tower, tiktoken-rs, tracing, and tracing-subscriber. headroom is written in Python and rtk in Rust.

- [headroomlabs-ai/headroom](https://seerepo.com/r/headroomlabs-ai/headroom): Compress tool outputs, logs, files, and RAG chunks before they reach the LLM. 20% fewer tokens for coding agents, 60-95% fewer tokens for JSON, same answers. Library, proxy, MCP server.
- [rtk-ai/rtk](https://seerepo.com/r/rtk-ai/rtk): CLI proxy that reduces LLM token consumption by 60-90% on common dev commands. Single Rust binary, zero dependencies

## What they share and what sets them apart

- In common: axum, rusqlite, SQLite, Tokio, tower, tiktoken-rs, tracing, tracing-subscriber
- Only in headroom: FastAPI, Redis, lru, Rich, gcp_auth, autogen-agentchat, litellm, hf-hub, ort, tiktoken, tokenizers, Pydantic, OpenTelemetry, prometheus, @opencode-ai/plugin, @ai-sdk/provider, ai
- Only in rtk: crossterm, Ratatui, image, quick-xml

## Side by side

| | headroom | rtk |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 789,601 lines written, 773 code files | 219,272 lines written, 253 code files |
| Who writes it | 28.1% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Cursor, Devin, and Mistral Vibe | 33.7% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor |
| Activity | Last push November 4, 2026, 3,201 commits, 78,851 stars | Last push November 4, 2026, 1,914 commits, 85,563 stars |
| Tests | 1,220 test files. 68.2% of its code files have a test that imports them | 84 test files. 4% of its code files have a test that imports them |

- Size: Lines written by people and agents, without generated ones; code files, without tests.
- Who writes it: A commit counts as AI's when it carries its signature: a Co-Authored-By line, its author name or the merge of its branch.
- Activity: From GitHub and its history, on the day SeeRepo read it.
- Tests: The files that test the code, and the share of code files a test imports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is bigger, headroom or rtk?

headroom, with 789,601 lines written; rtk has 219,272.

The proof: [headroomlabs-ai/headroom's code at commit 31dcaf4](https://github.com/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/tree/31dcaf41f7fafaebec0838a05ff328da456faef0)

### Which has more GitHub stars, headroom or rtk?

rtk, with 85,563 stars; headroom has 78,851.

The proof: [rtk-ai/rtk on GitHub](https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk)

### Which has more tests, headroom or rtk?

headroom, with 1,220 test files; rtk has 84.

The proof: [headroomlabs-ai/headroom's code at commit 31dcaf4](https://github.com/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/tree/31dcaf41f7fafaebec0838a05ff328da456faef0)

### Which was updated more recently, headroom or rtk?

Both got their last push on November 4, 2026.

The proof: [headroomlabs-ai/headroom's commits on GitHub](https://github.com/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/commits)

### Which has more commits signed by AI, headroom or rtk?

rtk: an AI signed 33.7% of its commits, with Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor; in headroom, 28.1%.

The proof: [the commits each tool signed in rtk-ai/rtk](https://seerepo.com/r/rtk-ai/rtk/ai)

## Sources

- headroomlabs-ai/headroom: Read on November 4, 2026, at commit 31dcaf4 (https://github.com/headroomlabs-ai/headroom/tree/31dcaf41f7fafaebec0838a05ff328da456faef0)
- rtk-ai/rtk: Read on November 4, 2026, at commit b47e05b (https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk/tree/b47e05b5df0c60ba1afbf3ba2492ad9e60fa340a)

## What is your repo built with?

Any public repo, with no account: https://seerepo.com/r/owner/repo/built, with the owner and name it has on GitHub.