head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs lazyjournal
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. lazyjournal has 1,406 stars, 34 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,675% (24,958 vs 1,406 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; lazyjournal is written in Go under MIT. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, lazyjournal 2%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | lazyjournal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 34 |
| 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 lazyjournal if
- You want the lazyjournal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and lazyjournal 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 lazyjournal
lazyjournal is a terminal user interface, written in Go, for reading and filtering logs from journald, auditd, the file system, Docker and Podman containers, Compose stacks and Kubernetes pods, and it is aimed at system administrators, SREs and developers who need to inspect logs from many different sources without leaving the terminal.
read the full lazyjournal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or lazyjournal more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and lazyjournal has 1,406. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and lazyjournal free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lazyjournal under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and lazyjournal?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and lazyjournal 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 lazyjournal?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lazyjournal if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.