head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs Foundatio
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Foundatio has 2,104 stars, 250 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,088% (24,988 vs 2,104 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Foundatio is written in C# under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, Foundatio 12%. 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 | Foundatio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 250 |
| 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 Foundatio if
- You want the Foundatio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Foundatio 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 Foundatio
Pluggable foundation blocks for building loosely coupled distributed apps. ✨ Why Choose Foundatio? 🔌 Pluggable implementations Swap Redis, Azure, AWS, or in memory with no code changes 🧪 Developer friendly In memory implementations for fast local development and testing 💉 DI native Built for Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection 🎯 Interface first Code against abstractions, not implementations ⚡ Production ready Battle tested in high scale applications 🔄 Consistent APIs Same patterns across caching, queues, storage, and more 🧱 Core Building Blocks 🚀 Quick Start 📦 Provider Implementations 📚 Learn More…
read the full Foundatio overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or Foundatio more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and Foundatio has 2,104. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and Foundatio free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Foundatio under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and Foundatio?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and Foundatio in C#. 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 Foundatio?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Foundatio if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.