head to head · open source
jaeger vs witr
jaeger has 23,366 GitHub stars, 3,220 forks, 547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. witr has 22,906 stars, 808 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. jaeger leads on adoption by 2% (23,366 vs 22,906 stars). jaeger is written in Go under Apache-2.0; witr is written in Go under Apache-2.0. jaeger has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, witr 4%. jaeger 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
| jaeger | witr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 808 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick jaeger if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick witr if
- You want the witr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and witr fits your workflow better
About jaeger
[![Slack chat][slack img]]( get in touch) [![Unit Tests][ci img]][ci] [![Coverage Status][cov img]][cov] [![Project+Community stats][community badge]][community stats] [![FOSSA Status][fossa img]][fossa] [![OpenSSF Scorecard][openssf img]][openssf] [![OpenSSF Best Practices][openssf bp img]][openssf bp] [![CLOMonitor][clomonitor img]][clomonitor] [![Artifact Hub][artifacthub img]][artifacthub] Jaeger a Distributed Tracing System 💥💥💥 Jaeger v2 is out! Read the blog post and try it out. Quick Start Get Jaeger running in seconds with Docker: For production deployments and more options, see the Getting Started…
read the full jaeger overview →
About witr
witr Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to the exact chain that started it — one command, machine readable JSON, or an interactive TUI. 🎮 Try witr in your browser → Investigate a simulated Linux box — a guided tutorial and free play sandbox, no install required. Purpose • Installation • TUI • Flags • Core Concept • Examples Output Behavior • Platforms • Success Criteria • Sponsors 1. Purpose witr exists to answer a single question: Why is this running? When something is running on a system, whether it is a process, a service, or something bound to a port, there is always a…
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Frequently asked questions
Is jaeger or witr more popular?
jaeger has 23,366 GitHub stars and witr has 22,906. jaeger has the larger community by that measure.
Are jaeger and witr free?
Both are open source. jaeger is licensed under Apache-2.0 and witr under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between jaeger and witr?
jaeger is written in Go and witr in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, jaeger or witr?
Choose jaeger if you want the larger community (23,366 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose witr if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.