head to head · open source
NetData vs client_java
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped today. client_java has 2,289 stars, 833 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped today. NetData leads on adoption by 3,420% (80,564 vs 2,289 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; client_java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, client_java 36%. client_java 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
| NetData | client_java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 833 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NetData if
- You weight community size — 81K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick client_java if
- You want the client_java feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and client_java fits your workflow better
About NetData
Netdata is an open source, real time infrastructure monitoring platform written in Go and released under GPL 3.0, built for operators and lean teams who need per second visibility across Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Windows systems.
read the full NetData overview →
About client_java
Prometheus Java Metrics Library [![Build][build badge]][build workflow] [build badge]: [build workflow]: Documentation Contributing and community See CONTRIBUTING.md and the community section of the Prometheus homepage. The Prometheus Java community is present on the CNCF Slack on prometheus java , and we have a fortnightly community call in the Prometheus public calendar. Previous Releases The source code for 0.16.0 and older is on the simpleclient branch. License Apache License 2.0, see LICENSE.
read the full client_java overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or client_java more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and client_java has 2,289. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and client_java free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and client_java under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and client_java?
NetData is written in Go and client_java in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, NetData or client_java?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose client_java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.