head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs ktop
Apache SkyWalking has 24,993 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped today. ktop has 1,116 stars, 25 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 2,140% (24,993 vs 1,116 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; ktop is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, ktop 2%. 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 (metrics), 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 | ktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-07-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 25 |
| 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 ktop if
- You want the ktop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ktop 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 ktop
A top like tool for your Kubernetes cluster. Following the tradition of Unix/Linux top tools, ktop is a tool that displays useful metrics information about nodes, pods, and other workload resources running in a Kubernetes cluster. Features Real Time Monitoring Continuously updated view of nodes, pods, and containers Drill Down Navigation Explore from cluster overview → node → pod → container logs Zero Cluster Installation Runs locally using your kubeconfig; no agents or server side components Works Anywhere kubectl Works Connects through the Kubernetes API; no direct node access required Streaming Container Logs…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or ktop more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,993 GitHub stars and ktop has 1,116. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and ktop free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ktop under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and ktop?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and ktop in Go. 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 ktop?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,993 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ktop if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.