head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs opentelemetry-ruby
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. opentelemetry-ruby has 606 stars, 301 forks, 144 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 4,018% (24,958 vs 606 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; opentelemetry-ruby is written in Ruby under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, opentelemetry-ruby 50%. opentelemetry-ruby was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (distributed-tracing, 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 | opentelemetry-ruby | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 606 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 301 |
| 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 opentelemetry-ruby if
- You want the opentelemetry-ruby feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and opentelemetry-ruby 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 opentelemetry-ruby
OpenTelemetry Ruby is the vendor neutral Ruby client for OpenTelemetry — an Apache 2.0 API and SDK that lets Ruby applications produce distributed traces, metrics and other telemetry — built for Ruby developers and platform teams who want observability data without committing to a single vendor's agent.
read the full opentelemetry-ruby overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or opentelemetry-ruby more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and opentelemetry-ruby has 606. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and opentelemetry-ruby free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and opentelemetry-ruby under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and opentelemetry-ruby?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and opentelemetry-ruby in Ruby. 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 opentelemetry-ruby?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose opentelemetry-ruby if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.