head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs dozzle
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. dozzle has 14,434 stars, 619 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped today. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 73% (24,958 vs 14,434 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dozzle is written in Go under MIT. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, dozzle 4%. dozzle 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 | dozzle | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 619 |
| 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 dozzle if
- You want the dozzle feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dozzle 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 dozzle
Dozzle is a lightweight, web based application for monitoring Docker logs in real time. It is written in Go and distributed under the MIT license, and it lives in the container and orchestration ecosystem alongside Docker, Docker Swarm and Kubernetes, which its topics and tagline both name. The project ships as a small container — roughly 7 MB compressed — and its user interface is built with Vue.js. It exposes a browser view over logs rather than writing them anywhere: the README states plainly that Dozzle stores no log files and exists purely for live log viewing.
read the full dozzle overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or dozzle more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and dozzle has 14,434. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and dozzle free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dozzle under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and dozzle?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and dozzle in Go. 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 dozzle?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dozzle if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.