head to head · open source
NetData vs Highlight
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Highlight has 9,385 stars, 704 forks, 553 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 766% (81,255 vs 9,385 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Highlight is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Highlight 8%. 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 | Highlight | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 9.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 704 |
| 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 Highlight if
- You want the Highlight feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Highlight 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 Highlight
Docs Community (Support & Feedback) Feature request Bug report highlight.io: The open source, fullstack monitoring platform. highlight.io is a monitoring tool for the next generation of developers (like you!). Unlike the age old, outdated tools out there, we aim to build a cohesive, modern and fully featured monitoring solution, something we wished WE had. And it's all open source :) At a high level, highlight.io's feature set is: Session Replay Error Monitoring Logging We strive to make highlight.io as easy to install as a few lines of code in any environment. Read more about our features, values and mission…
read the full Highlight overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or Highlight more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and Highlight has 9,385. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and Highlight free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0, and Highlight has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NetData and Highlight?
NetData is written in Go and Highlight in TypeScript. 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 Highlight?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (81,255 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Highlight if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.