head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs logging-log4net
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. logging-log4net has 936 stars, 335 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 2,570% (24,988 vs 936 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; logging-log4net is written in C# under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, logging-log4net 36%. logging-log4net 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 | logging-log4net | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 936 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 335 |
| 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 logging-log4net if
- You want the logging-log4net 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 logging-log4net 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 logging-log4net
log4net Introduction Apache log4net is a sub project of the Apache Logging Services project. Apache log4net graduated from the Apache Incubator in February 2007. Web site: Documentation For the latest documentation see the log4net web site at: Extensions log4net.Ext.Mail MailKit based SMTP appender for sending log events via email (recommended replacement for the deprecated SmtpAppender) Contributing log4net development happens on Github and on our mailing list. Please join the mailing list and discuss bigger changes before working on them. For bigger changes we must ask you to sign a Contributor License…
read the full logging-log4net overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or logging-log4net more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and logging-log4net has 936. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and logging-log4net free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and logging-log4net under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and logging-log4net?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and logging-log4net 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 logging-log4net?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose logging-log4net if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.