head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs dd-trace-java
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. dd-trace-java has 738 stars, 364 forks, 478 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 3,286% (24,988 vs 738 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dd-trace-java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, dd-trace-java 49%. dd-trace-java was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (apm, distributed-tracing), 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 | dd-trace-java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 738 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 364 |
| 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 dd-trace-java if
- You want the dd-trace-java feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and dd-trace-java 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 dd-trace-java
Datadog Java APM This repository contains dd trace java , Datadog's APM client Java library. dd trace java contains APIs to automatically or manually trace and profile Java applications. These features power Distributed Tracing with Automatic Instrumentation, Continuous Profiling, Error Tracking, Continuous Integration Visibility, Deployment Tracking, Code Hotspots and more. Getting Started To use and configure, check out the [setup documentation][setup docs]. For advanced usage, check out the [configuration reference][configuration reference] and [custom instrumentation API][api docs]. Confused about the…
read the full dd-trace-java overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or dd-trace-java more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and dd-trace-java has 738. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and dd-trace-java free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dd-trace-java under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and dd-trace-java?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and dd-trace-java in Java. 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 dd-trace-java?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dd-trace-java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.