head to head · open source
monolog vs logging-log4net
monolog has 21,402 GitHub stars, 1,920 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. logging-log4net has 936 stars, 335 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. monolog leads on adoption by 2,187% (21,402 vs 936 stars). monolog is written in PHP under MIT; logging-log4net is written in C# under Apache-2.0. monolog has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, logging-log4net 36%. logging-log4net 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 | logging-log4net | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 936 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | PHP | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 335 |
| 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 logging-log4net if
- You want the logging-log4net feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and logging-log4net 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 logging-log4net
log4net Introduction Apache log4net is a sub project of the Apache Logging Services project. Apache log4net graduated from the Apache Incubator in February 2007. Web site: Documentation For the latest documentation see the log4net web site at: Extensions log4net.Ext.Mail MailKit based SMTP appender for sending log events via email (recommended replacement for the deprecated SmtpAppender) Contributing log4net development happens on Github and on our mailing list. Please join the mailing list and discuss bigger changes before working on them. For bigger changes we must ask you to sign a Contributor License…
read the full logging-log4net overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is monolog or logging-log4net more popular?
monolog has 21,402 GitHub stars and logging-log4net has 936. monolog has the larger community by that measure.
Are monolog and logging-log4net free?
Both are open source. monolog is licensed under MIT and logging-log4net under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monolog and logging-log4net?
monolog is written in PHP and logging-log4net 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 logging-log4net?
Choose monolog if you want the larger community (21,402 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose logging-log4net if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.