head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs kotlin-logging
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. kotlin-logging has 3,111 stars, 130 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 702% (24,958 vs 3,111 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; kotlin-logging is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, kotlin-logging 4%. 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 | kotlin-logging | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 130 |
| 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 kotlin-logging if
- You want the kotlin-logging feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and kotlin-logging 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 kotlin-logging
kotlin logging is a lightweight, pure Kotlin logging facade that gives JVM, Android, and multiplatform Kotlin applications lazy, idiomatic log calls while delegating the actual logging work to SLF4J and whichever backend implementation the project already uses.
read the full kotlin-logging overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or kotlin-logging more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and kotlin-logging has 3,111. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and kotlin-logging free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kotlin-logging under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and kotlin-logging?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and kotlin-logging in Kotlin. 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 kotlin-logging?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kotlin-logging if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.