head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs flogger
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. flogger has 1,481 stars, 133 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,585% (24,958 vs 1,481 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; flogger is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, flogger 9%. flogger 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Apache SkyWalking | flogger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 133 |
| 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 flogger if
- You want the flogger 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 flogger 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 flogger
Flogger is a fluent logging API for Java, published under the Apache 2.0 licence by Google, that replaces a wide field of competing Java logging APIs with one unified, self documenting interface.
read the full flogger overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Monitoring & Observability projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Monitoring & Observability field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or flogger more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and flogger has 1,481. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and flogger free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flogger under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and flogger?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and flogger 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 flogger?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flogger if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.