head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs CocoaLumberjack
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CocoaLumberjack has 13,320 stars, 2,272 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 88% (24,988 vs 13,320 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; CocoaLumberjack is written in Objective-C under BSD-3-Clause. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, CocoaLumberjack 17%. 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 (logging), 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 | CocoaLumberjack | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Java | Objective-C |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| 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 CocoaLumberjack if
- You want the CocoaLumberjack feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Objective-C
- You evaluated both and CocoaLumberjack fits your workflow better
About Apache SkyWalking
Apache SkyWalking ========== SkyWalking : an APM (Application Performance Monitoring) system, especially designed for microservices, cloud native and container based architectures. Abstract SkyWalking is an open source APM system that provides monitoring, tracing and diagnosing capabilities for distributed systems in Cloud Native architectures. Distributed Tracing End to end distributed tracing. Service topology analysis, service centric observability and APIs dashboards. Agents for your stack Java, .Net Core, PHP, NodeJS, Golang, LUA, Rust, C++, Client JavaScript and Python agents with active development and…
read the full Apache SkyWalking overview →
About CocoaLumberjack
CocoaLumberjack =============== CocoaLumberjack is a fast & simple, yet powerful & flexible logging framework for macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS and visionOS. How to get started First, install CocoaLumberjack via Swift Package Manager, CocoaPods, Carthage or manually. Then use DDOSLogger for iOS 10 and later, or DDTTYLogger and DDASLLogger for earlier versions to begin logging messages. Swift Package Manager As of CocoaLumberjack 3.6.0, you can use the Swift Package Manager as integration method. If you want to use the Swift Package Manager as integration method, either use Xcode to add the package dependency or add…
read the full CocoaLumberjack overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or CocoaLumberjack more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and CocoaLumberjack has 13,320. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and CocoaLumberjack free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CocoaLumberjack under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and CocoaLumberjack?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and CocoaLumberjack in Objective-C. 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 CocoaLumberjack?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose CocoaLumberjack if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.