head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs claude-devtools
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. claude-devtools has 3,942 stars, 297 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 533% (24,958 vs 3,942 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; claude-devtools is written in TypeScript under MIT. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, claude-devtools 8%. Apache SkyWalking 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.
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Side by side
| Apache SkyWalking | claude-devtools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 297 |
| 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 claude-devtools if
- You want the claude-devtools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and claude-devtools 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 claude-devtools
claude devtools is a free, MIT licensed TypeScript application — desktop builds plus a Docker service — that reads the Claude Code session logs already stored in /.claude/ and reconstructs them into a visual interface for inspecting tool calls, token usage, subagents, and the context window.
read the full claude-devtools overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or claude-devtools more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and claude-devtools has 3,942. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and claude-devtools free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and claude-devtools under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and claude-devtools?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and claude-devtools 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, Apache SkyWalking or claude-devtools?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose claude-devtools if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.