head to head · open source
NetData vs gf
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gf has 13,294 stars, 1,731 forks, 148 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 511% (81,255 vs 13,294 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; gf is written in Go under MIT. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, gf 13%. NetData was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (kubernetes), 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 | gf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 13K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 gf if
- You want the gf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gf 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 gf
English 简体中文 GoFrame is a powerful framework for faster, easier, and more efficient project development. Use it as a full application framework, or pick individual components as needed. Installation GoFrame requires Go 1.23 or later. In an existing module, add the framework: Install the gf CLI: Usage Create main.go : Run it: Open To scaffold a project with the gf CLI: Documentation Official Site: Official Site(en): 国内镜像： Mirror Site: Mirror Site: Offline Docs GoDoc API: Doc Source: Contributors 💖 Thanks to all the contributors who made GoFrame possible 💖 License GoFrame is licensed under the MIT License, 100%…
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or gf more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and gf has 13,294. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and gf free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and gf under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and gf?
NetData is written in Go and gf in Go. 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 gf?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (81,255 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gf if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.