head to head · open source
monolog vs g3log
monolog has 21,402 GitHub stars, 1,920 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. g3log has 966 stars, 280 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. monolog leads on adoption by 2,116% (21,402 vs 966 stars). monolog is written in PHP under MIT; g3log is written in C++ under Unlicense. monolog has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, g3log 29%. monolog was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (logger, 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
| monolog | g3log | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 966 |
| License | MIT | Unlicense |
| Written in | PHP | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 280 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick monolog if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick g3log if
- You want the g3log feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Unlicense license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and g3log fits your workflow better
About monolog
Monolog Logging for PHP Note This is the documentation for Monolog 3.x , if you are using older releases see the documentation for Monolog 2.x or Monolog 1.x Monolog sends your logs to files, sockets, inboxes, databases and various web services. See the complete list of handlers below. Special handlers allow you to build advanced logging strategies. This library implements the PSR 3 interface that you can type hint against in your own libraries to keep a maximum of interoperability. You can also use it in your applications to make sure you can always use another compatible logger at a later time. As of 1.11.0…
read the full monolog overview →
About g3log
Scanning Update : Contents introduction detailed information Configure & Build API description Custom log formatting Welcome to g3log Use kjellkod.github.io/g3log/ for best reading / searching / navigating of g3log's documentation G3log is an asynchronous logger with three main features: 1. Intuitive LOG(...) API 2. Design by contract CHECK(...) functionality 3. Fatal crash handling for graceful shutdown of the logged process without loosing any log details up to the point of the crash. The super quick introduction to g3log can be seen in the steps 1 9 below. For more in depth information please see the full…
read the full g3log overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is monolog or g3log more popular?
monolog has 21,402 GitHub stars and g3log has 966. monolog has the larger community by that measure.
Are monolog and g3log free?
Both are open source. monolog is licensed under MIT and g3log under Unlicense. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monolog and g3log?
monolog is written in PHP and g3log in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, monolog or g3log?
Choose monolog if you want the larger community (21,402 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose g3log if its feature set, stack or Unlicense licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.