head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs pup
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pup has 1,014 stars, 121 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 2,361% (24,958 vs 1,014 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; pup is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, pup 12%. pup was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
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Side by side
| Apache SkyWalking | pup | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 121 |
| 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 pup if
- You want the pup feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and pup 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 pup
Pup is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Rust written command line client from Datadog that exposes more than 200 commands across over 33 Datadog product domains, letting AI agents and the humans who supervise them query observability data from a terminal.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or pup more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and pup has 1,014. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and pup free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pup under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and pup?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and pup in Rust. 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 pup?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pup if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.