head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs eliot
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. eliot has 1,189 stars, 73 forks, 120 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,999% (24,958 vs 1,189 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; eliot is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, eliot 6%. 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 | eliot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 73 |
| 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 eliot if
- You want the eliot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and eliot 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 eliot
Eliot is a Python logging library that records causal chains of actions rather than a flat stream of unrelated factoids, and it is for Python developers and scientific computing teams who need to answer why a code path ran, why an error happened, or where time went.
read the full eliot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or eliot more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and eliot has 1,189. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and eliot free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and eliot under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and eliot?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and eliot in Python. 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 eliot?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose eliot if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.