diff --git a/.changeset/sweet-houses-kick.md b/.changeset/sweet-houses-kick.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..daeca90ffd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/sweet-houses-kick.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"create-react-router": patch
+---
+
+chore: replace chalk with picocolors
diff --git a/contributors.yml b/contributors.yml
index 31584cfcfc..e26d62fcde 100644
--- a/contributors.yml
+++ b/contributors.yml
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@
 - robbtraister
 - RobHannay
 - robinvdvleuten
+- roli-lpci
 - rossipedia
 - rtmann
 - rtzll
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 568a7299e6..581823b18f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
     "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^7.5.0",
     "babel-jest": "^29.7.0",
     "babel-plugin-dev-expression": "^0.2.3",
-    "chalk": "^4.1.2",
+    "picocolors": "^1.1.1",
     "dox": "^1.0.0",
     "eslint": "^8.57.0",
     "eslint-config-react-app": "^7.0.1",
diff --git a/packages/create-react-router/package.json b/packages/create-react-router/package.json
index a2df126d02..dd0aaafaf5 100644
--- a/packages/create-react-router/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-react-router/package.json
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@remix-run/web-fetch": "^4.4.2",
     "arg": "^5.0.1",
-    "chalk": "^4.1.2",
+    "picocolors": "^1.1.1",
     "execa": "5.1.1",
     "gunzip-maybe": "^1.4.2",
     "log-update": "^5.0.1",
diff --git a/packages/create-react-router/utils.ts b/packages/create-react-router/utils.ts
index 0effcdb084..6c30c56c85 100644
--- a/packages/create-react-router/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/create-react-router/utils.ts
@@ -5,56 +5,69 @@ import process from "node:process";
 import os from "node:os";
 import { type Key as ActionKey } from "node:readline";
 import { erase, cursor } from "sisteransi";
-import chalk from "chalk";
+import pc from "picocolors";
 
 // https://no-color.org/
-const SUPPORTS_COLOR = chalk.supportsColor && !process.env.NO_COLOR;
+// picocolors natively respects NO_COLOR and FORCE_COLOR env vars
+const SUPPORTS_COLOR = pc.isColorSupported;
 
 export const color = {
   supportsColor: SUPPORTS_COLOR,
-  heading: safeColor(chalk.bold),
-  arg: safeColor(chalk.yellowBright),
-  error: safeColor(chalk.red),
-  warning: safeColor(chalk.yellow),
-  hint: safeColor(chalk.blue),
-  bold: safeColor(chalk.bold),
-  black: safeColor(chalk.black),
-  white: safeColor(chalk.white),
-  blue: safeColor(chalk.blue),
-  cyan: safeColor(chalk.cyan),
-  red: safeColor(chalk.red),
-  yellow: safeColor(chalk.yellow),
-  green: safeColor(chalk.green),
-  blackBright: safeColor(chalk.blackBright),
-  whiteBright: safeColor(chalk.whiteBright),
-  blueBright: safeColor(chalk.blueBright),
-  cyanBright: safeColor(chalk.cyanBright),
-  redBright: safeColor(chalk.redBright),
-  yellowBright: safeColor(chalk.yellowBright),
-  greenBright: safeColor(chalk.greenBright),
-  bgBlack: safeColor(chalk.bgBlack),
-  bgWhite: safeColor(chalk.bgWhite),
-  bgBlue: safeColor(chalk.bgBlue),
-  bgCyan: safeColor(chalk.bgCyan),
-  bgRed: safeColor(chalk.bgRed),
-  bgYellow: safeColor(chalk.bgYellow),
-  bgGreen: safeColor(chalk.bgGreen),
-  bgBlackBright: safeColor(chalk.bgBlackBright),
-  bgWhiteBright: safeColor(chalk.bgWhiteBright),
-  bgBlueBright: safeColor(chalk.bgBlueBright),
-  bgCyanBright: safeColor(chalk.bgCyanBright),
-  bgRedBright: safeColor(chalk.bgRedBright),
-  bgYellowBright: safeColor(chalk.bgYellowBright),
-  bgGreenBright: safeColor(chalk.bgGreenBright),
-  gray: safeColor(chalk.gray),
-  dim: safeColor(chalk.dim),
-  reset: safeColor(chalk.reset),
-  inverse: safeColor(chalk.inverse),
-  hex: (color: string) => safeColor(chalk.hex(color)),
-  underline: chalk.underline,
+  heading: safeColor(pc.bold),
+  arg: safeColor(pc.yellowBright),
+  error: safeColor(pc.red),
+  warning: safeColor(pc.yellow),
+  hint: safeColor(pc.blue),
+  bold: safeColor(pc.bold),
+  black: safeColor(pc.black),
+  white: safeColor(pc.white),
+  blue: safeColor(pc.blue),
+  cyan: safeColor(pc.cyan),
+  red: safeColor(pc.red),
+  yellow: safeColor(pc.yellow),
+  green: safeColor(pc.green),
+  blackBright: safeColor(pc.blackBright),
+  whiteBright: safeColor(pc.whiteBright),
+  blueBright: safeColor(pc.blueBright),
+  cyanBright: safeColor(pc.cyanBright),
+  redBright: safeColor(pc.redBright),
+  yellowBright: safeColor(pc.yellowBright),
+  greenBright: safeColor(pc.greenBright),
+  bgBlack: safeColor(pc.bgBlack),
+  bgWhite: safeColor(pc.bgWhite),
+  bgBlue: safeColor(pc.bgBlue),
+  bgCyan: safeColor(pc.bgCyan),
+  bgRed: safeColor(pc.bgRed),
+  bgYellow: safeColor(pc.bgYellow),
+  bgGreen: safeColor(pc.bgGreen),
+  bgBlackBright: safeColor(pc.bgBlackBright),
+  bgWhiteBright: safeColor(pc.bgWhiteBright),
+  bgBlueBright: safeColor(pc.bgBlueBright),
+  bgCyanBright: safeColor(pc.bgCyanBright),
+  bgRedBright: safeColor(pc.bgRedBright),
+  bgYellowBright: safeColor(pc.bgYellowBright),
+  bgGreenBright: safeColor(pc.bgGreenBright),
+  gray: safeColor(pc.gray),
+  dim: safeColor(pc.dim),
+  reset: safeColor(pc.reset),
+  inverse: safeColor(pc.inverse),
+  hex: (hex: string) => safeColor(hexColor(hex)),
+  underline: pc.underline,
 };
 
-function safeColor(style: chalk.Chalk) {
+/**
+ * Converts a hex color string to an ANSI true-color (24-bit) formatter.
+ * Used by the loading indicator gradient animation.
+ */
+function hexColor(hex: string): (input: string) => string {
+  let h = hex.replace("#", "");
+  let r = parseInt(h.substring(0, 2), 16);
+  let g = parseInt(h.substring(2, 4), 16);
+  let b = parseInt(h.substring(4, 6), 16);
+  return (input: string) => `\x1b[38;2;${r};${g};${b}m${input}\x1b[39m`;
+}
+
+function safeColor(style: (input: string) => string) {
   return SUPPORTS_COLOR ? style : identity;
 }
 
@@ -93,8 +106,8 @@ export function logError(message: string) {
 
 function logBullet(
   logger: typeof log | typeof logError,
-  colorizePrefix: <V>(v: V) => V,
-  colorizeText: <V>(v: V) => V,
+  colorizePrefix: (v: string) => string,
+  colorizeText: (v: string) => string,
   symbol: string,
   prefix: string,
   text?: string | string[],
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 098fc66e24..ec15823e78 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -115,9 +115,6 @@ importers:
       babel-plugin-dev-expression:
         specifier: ^0.2.3
         version: 0.2.3(@babel/core@7.27.7)
-      chalk:
-        specifier: ^4.1.2
-        version: 4.1.2
       dox:
         specifier: ^1.0.0
         version: 1.0.0
@@ -160,6 +157,9 @@ importers:
       jsonfile:
         specifier: ^6.1.0
         version: 6.1.0
+      picocolors:
+        specifier: ^1.1.1
+        version: 1.1.1
       prettier:
         specifier: ^3.6.2
         version: 3.6.2
@@ -828,9 +828,6 @@ importers:
       arg:
         specifier: ^5.0.1
         version: 5.0.2
-      chalk:
-        specifier: ^4.1.2
-        version: 4.1.2
       execa:
         specifier: 5.1.1
         version: 5.1.1
@@ -840,6 +837,9 @@ importers:
       log-update:
         specifier: ^5.0.1
         version: 5.0.1
+      picocolors:
+        specifier: ^1.1.1
+        version: 1.1.1
       proxy-agent:
         specifier: ^6.3.0
         version: 6.4.0
diff --git a/scripts/playground.js b/scripts/playground.js
index b987ecaef0..20ea5648b0 100644
--- a/scripts/playground.js
+++ b/scripts/playground.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ let { existsSync, readdirSync } = require("node:fs");
 let { cp } = require("node:fs/promises");
 let path = require("node:path");
 let prompts = require("prompts");
-let chalk = require("chalk");
+let pc = require("picocolors");
 
 copyPlayground();
 
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ async function copyPlayground() {
   console.log(
     [
       "",
-      chalk.green`Created local copy of "${templateName}"`,
-      chalk.green`To start playground, run:`,
+      pc.green(`Created local copy of "${templateName}"`),
+      pc.green(`To start playground, run:`),
       "",
       `cd ${relativeDestDir}`,
       "pnpm dev",
diff --git a/scripts/version.js b/scripts/version.js
index 71d96c6c16..6fc21a9a94 100644
--- a/scripts/version.js
+++ b/scripts/version.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 const { execSync } = require("child_process");
-const chalk = require("chalk");
+const pc = require("picocolors");
 const semver = require("semver");
 
 const {
@@ -40,20 +40,18 @@ async function run() {
         packageName = pkg.name;
         pkg.version = version;
       });
-      console.log(
-        chalk.green(`  Updated ${packageName} to version ${version}`),
-      );
+      console.log(pc.green(`  Updated ${packageName} to version ${version}`));
     }
 
     // 3. Commit and tag
     if (!skipGit) {
       execSync(`git commit --all --message="Version ${version}"`);
       execSync(`git tag -a -m "Version ${version}" v${version}`);
-      console.log(chalk.green(`  Committed and tagged version ${version}`));
+      console.log(pc.green(`  Committed and tagged version ${version}`));
     }
   } catch (error) {
     console.log();
-    console.error(chalk.red(`  ${error.message}`));
+    console.error(pc.red(`  ${error.message}`));
     console.log();
     return 1;
   }