head to head · open source
NetData vs kiali
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped today. kiali has 3,637 stars, 570 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NetData leads on adoption by 2,115% (80,564 vs 3,637 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; kiali is written in Go under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, kiali 16%. 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 | kiali | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 570 |
| 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 kiali if
- You want the kiali feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and kiali 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 kiali
= Kiali image: about Kiali", link=" :toc: macro :toc title: image: 2.0 license", link="LICENSE"] == Introduction link: is a management console for Istio service mesh. Kiali can be quickly installed as an Istio add on or integrated as a trusted component within a production environment. === Table of contents toc::[] === Contributing First, check the link: section on kiali.io], which provides a brief introduction on contributing, how to report issues and request features, and how to reach us. For those interested in making code contributions, please also check the link:./CONTRIBUTING.md[Contribution Guide]. === Get…
read the full kiali overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or kiali more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and kiali has 3,637. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and kiali free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and kiali under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and kiali?
NetData is written in Go and kiali 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 kiali?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose kiali if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.