head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs otelbin
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. otelbin has 579 stars, 28 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 4,211% (24,958 vs 579 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; otelbin is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, otelbin 5%. otelbin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (logging, 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 | otelbin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 579 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 28 |
| 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 otelbin if
- You want the otelbin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and otelbin 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 otelbin
OTelBin is a browser based editor and verifier for OpenTelemetry Collector pipeline configuration, built for engineers and platform teams who write, review, or document collector configs and need to see what a pipeline actually wires together before it runs.
read the full otelbin 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 otelbin more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and otelbin has 579. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and otelbin free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and otelbin under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and otelbin?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and otelbin in TypeScript. 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 otelbin?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose otelbin if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.