head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs loongsuite-go
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. loongsuite-go has 902 stars, 124 forks, 30 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 2,667% (24,958 vs 902 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; loongsuite-go is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, loongsuite-go 14%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (apm, metrics, observability), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Apache SkyWalking | loongsuite-go | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 902 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 124 |
| 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 loongsuite-go if
- You want the loongsuite-go 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 loongsuite-go 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 loongsuite-go
loongsuite go is an Apache 2.0 licensed compile time instrumentation agent that adds OpenTelemetry tracing and metrics to Go applications without requiring any source code changes, and it is built for Go teams that need observability across services they would rather not modify by hand.
read the full loongsuite-go overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Monitoring & Observability projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Monitoring & Observability field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or loongsuite-go more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and loongsuite-go has 902. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and loongsuite-go free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and loongsuite-go under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and loongsuite-go?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and loongsuite-go 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 loongsuite-go?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose loongsuite-go if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.