head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs swift-metrics
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. swift-metrics has 795 stars, 81 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 3,039% (24,958 vs 795 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; swift-metrics is written in Swift under Apache-2.0. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, swift-metrics 10%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (metrics), 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-metrics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 795 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 81 |
| 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-metrics if
- You want the swift-metrics 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-metrics 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-metrics
SwiftMetrics is the Apache 2.0 metrics API package for Swift, a shared abstraction that lets server side and cross platform Swift applications emit metrics for observability through whichever backend an application owner selects rather than tying emission code to a single library.
read the full swift-metrics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or swift-metrics more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and swift-metrics has 795. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and swift-metrics free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and swift-metrics under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and swift-metrics?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and swift-metrics 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-metrics?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose swift-metrics if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.