head to head · open source
NetData vs logging-operator
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped today. logging-operator has 1,715 stars, 369 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped today. NetData leads on adoption by 4,598% (80,564 vs 1,715 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; logging-operator is written in Go under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, logging-operator 22%. logging-operator 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 | logging-operator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 369 |
| 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 logging-operator if
- You want the logging-operator 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 logging-operator 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 logging-operator
Logging operator The Logging operator is now a CNCF Sandbox project. The Logging operator solves your logging related problems in Kubernetes environments by automating the deployment and configuration of a Kubernetes logging pipeline. 1. The operator deploys and configures a log collector (currently a Fluent Bit DaemonSet) on every node to collect container and application logs from the node file system. 1. Fluent Bit queries the Kubernetes API and enriches the logs with metadata about the pods, and transfers both the logs and the metadata to a log forwarder instance. 1. The log forwarder instance receives, filte…
read the full logging-operator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or logging-operator more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and logging-operator has 1,715. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and logging-operator free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and logging-operator under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and logging-operator?
NetData is written in Go and logging-operator 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 logging-operator?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose logging-operator if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.