head to head · open source
Apache SkyWalking vs voltagent
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars, 6,633 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. voltagent has 10,647 stars, 1,135 forks, 86 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. Apache SkyWalking leads on adoption by 134% (24,958 vs 10,647 stars). Apache SkyWalking is written in Java under Apache-2.0; voltagent is written in TypeScript under MIT. Apache SkyWalking has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, voltagent 11%. Apache SkyWalking was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | voltagent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 voltagent if
- You want the voltagent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and voltagent 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 voltagent
VoltAgent is an end to end AI Agent Engineering Platform built around an open source TypeScript framework. It lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem, distributed through npm packages such as @voltagent/core and @voltagent/mcp docs server , and it is released under the MIT license. The project is roughly one year old, carries 10,619 stars and 1,126 forks on GitHub, and its most recent push landed on 27 August 2026. The platform has two halves: the open source framework, which supplies memory, RAG, guardrails, tools, MCP, voice, and workflow primitives, and the VoltOps Console, which is offered as either …
read the full voltagent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or voltagent more popular?
Apache SkyWalking has 24,958 GitHub stars and voltagent has 10,647. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache SkyWalking and voltagent free?
Both are open source. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and voltagent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache SkyWalking and voltagent?
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java and voltagent 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 voltagent?
Choose Apache SkyWalking if you want the larger community (24,958 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose voltagent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.