head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs superlog
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. superlog has 1,451 stars, 117 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 1,620% (24,958 vs 1,451 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; superlog is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, superlog 8%. superlog 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 | superlog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 117 |
| 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 superlog if
- You want the superlog 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 superlog 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 superlog
Superlog is an open source, Apache 2.0 agentic telemetry system that ingests OpenTelemetry traces, logs and metrics, groups noisy signals into incidents, and hands investigation work to pluggable agent runtimes — built for teams that want a local first observability workspace they can self host.
read the full superlog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or superlog more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and superlog has 1,451. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and superlog free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and superlog under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and superlog?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and superlog 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 superlog?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose superlog if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.