head to head · open source
NetData vs defmt
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. defmt has 1,241 stars, 135 forks, 117 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NetData leads on adoption by 6,448% (81,255 vs 1,241 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; defmt is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, defmt 11%. NetData 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 | defmt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 135 |
| 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 defmt if
- You want the defmt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and defmt fits your workflow better
About NetData
X Ray Vision for your infrastructure! Every Metric, Every Second. No BS. Visit our Home Page MENU: WHO WE ARE KEY FEATURES GETTING STARTED HOW IT WORKS FAQ DOCS COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTE LICENSE [!WARNING] People get addicted to Netdata. Once you use it on your systems, there's no going back. WHO WE ARE Netdata is an open source, real time infrastructure monitoring platform. Monitor, detect, and act across your entire infrastructure. Core Advantages: Instant Insights – With Netdata you can access per second metrics and visualizations. Zero Configuration – You can deploy immediately without complex setup. ML Powered –…
read the full NetData overview →
About defmt
defmt defmt ("de format", short for "deferred formatting") is a highly efficient logging framework that targets resource constrained devices, like microcontrollers. For more details about the framework check the book at . Components This repository contains the following packages: MSRV The minimum supported Rust version is 1.76 (or Ferrocene 24.05) for the crates that cross compile to your microcontroller. The minimum supported Rust version is 1.83 for all host side crates. The defmt crates are tested against the latest stable Rust version and the MSRV. Developer Information Running Tests Tests are run using…
read the full defmt overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or defmt more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and defmt has 1,241. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and defmt free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and defmt under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and defmt?
NetData is written in Go and defmt in Rust. 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 defmt?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (81,255 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose defmt if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.