head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs airframe
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. airframe has 666 stars, 67 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped 16 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 3,647% (24,958 vs 666 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; airframe is written in Scala under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, airframe 10%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (metrics), 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
| Apache SkyWalking | airframe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 666 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Scala |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 67 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Apache SkyWalking if
- You weight community size — 25K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick airframe if
- You want the airframe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Scala
- You evaluated both and airframe fits your workflow better
About Apache SkyWalking
Apache SkyWalking is an open source application performance monitoring (APM) system for distributed systems in cloud native architectures, built for teams that run microservices across Kubernetes and container based environments.
read the full Apache SkyWalking overview →
About airframe
Airframe is a collection of essential building blocks for Scala applications — logging, JSON and MessagePack serialization, dependency injection, an HTTP server and client with RPC support, and the AirSpec testing framework — aimed at Scala developers building services and libraries.
read the full airframe overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or airframe more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and airframe has 666. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and airframe free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and airframe under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and airframe?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and airframe in Scala. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Apache SkyWalking or airframe?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose airframe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.