head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs swift-log
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. swift-log has 4,050 stars, 344 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 516% (24,958 vs 4,050 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; swift-log is written in Swift under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, swift-log 8%. swift-log was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | swift-log | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 344 |
| 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 swift-log if
- You want the swift-log feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and swift-log 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 swift-log
SwiftLog is the open source logging API for Swift, published by Apple under the Apache 2.0 licence, that gives libraries and applications across the Swift ecosystem a single unified, performant and ergonomic logging interface to code against.
read the full swift-log overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or swift-log more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and swift-log has 4,050. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and swift-log free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and swift-log under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and swift-log?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and swift-log in Swift. 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 swift-log?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose swift-log if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.