head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs evlog
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. evlog has 1,909 stars, 69 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,209% (24,988 vs 1,909 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; evlog is written in TypeScript under MIT. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, evlog 4%. evlog was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (logging, observability), 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 | evlog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 69 |
| 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 evlog if
- You want the evlog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and evlog 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 evlog
evlog Digging through logs is not observability. It's hope. A single request generates 10+ log lines. When production breaks at 3am, you're sifting scattered lines for a needle of signal. Your errors say "Something went wrong", which helps nobody. evlog is different. One wide event per operation. All the context. Errors that explain why and what to do next. Why evlog? The Problem The Solution Output: Built for AI Assisted Development We're in the age of AI agents writing and debugging code. When an agent encounters an error, it needs clear, structured context to understand what happened and how to fix it…
read the full evlog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or evlog more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and evlog has 1,909. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and evlog free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and evlog under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and evlog?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and evlog 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 evlog?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose evlog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.