head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs skywalking-java
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars, 6,632 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. skywalking-java has 927 stars, 694 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 2,596% (24,988 vs 927 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; skywalking-java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, skywalking-java 75%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 7 topic tags (apm, dapper, distributed-tracing, 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 | skywalking-java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 927 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 694 |
| 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 skywalking-java if
- You want the skywalking-java feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and skywalking-java 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 skywalking-java
Apache SkyWalking Java Agent ========== SkyWalking Java: The Java Agent for Apache SkyWalking, which provides the native tracing/metrics/logging abilities for Java projects. SkyWalking: an APM(application performance monitor) system, especially designed for microservices, cloud native and container based (Docker and Kubernetes) architectures. Documentation Official documentation Downloads Please head to the releases page to download a release of Apache SkyWalking. Code of conduct This project adheres to the Contributor Covenant code of conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code. Please…
read the full skywalking-java overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or skywalking-java more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,988 GitHub stars and skywalking-java has 927. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and skywalking-java free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and skywalking-java under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and skywalking-java?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and skywalking-java in Java. 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 skywalking-java?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose skywalking-java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.