head to head · open source
NetData vs databuff
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped today. databuff has 683 stars, 136 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 11,696% (80,564 vs 683 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; databuff is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, databuff 20%. NetData was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (devops), 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
| NetData | databuff | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 683 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 136 |
| 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 databuff if
- You want the databuff feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and databuff 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 databuff
DataBuff — AI Native APM Built On Opentelemetry Mission: build the strongest OpenTelemetry APM backend AI native · OTLP native · multi agent out of the box · self hosted traces, metrics, topology Live Demo · Documentation · Open Source APM · 简体中文 · Community AI multi agent troubleshooting · Service health · Call graph topology Keywords : AI Native APM · OpenTelemetry APM · OTLP Backend · Multi Agent · Distributed Tracing · AIOps · Open Source APM · MCP · Self Hosted Observability What is DataBuff DataBuff is an AI native APM backend built on Opentelemetry — ingest traces, metrics, and logs via OTLP, with full sta…
read the full databuff overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or databuff more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and databuff has 683. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and databuff free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and databuff under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and databuff?
NetData is written in Go and databuff 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 databuff?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose databuff if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.