head to head · open source
NetData vs ktop
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ktop has 1,116 stars, 25 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. NetData leads on adoption by 7,181% (81,255 vs 1,116 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; ktop is written in Go under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, ktop 2%. 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 | ktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-07-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 25 |
| 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 ktop if
- You want the ktop 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 ktop 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 ktop
A top like tool for your Kubernetes cluster. Following the tradition of Unix/Linux top tools, ktop is a tool that displays useful metrics information about nodes, pods, and other workload resources running in a Kubernetes cluster. Features Real Time Monitoring Continuously updated view of nodes, pods, and containers Drill Down Navigation Explore from cluster overview → node → pod → container logs Zero Cluster Installation Runs locally using your kubeconfig; no agents or server side components Works Anywhere kubectl Works Connects through the Kubernetes API; no direct node access required Streaming Container Logs…
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or ktop more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and ktop has 1,116. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and ktop free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ktop under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and ktop?
NetData is written in Go and ktop 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 ktop?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (81,255 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ktop if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.