head to head · open source
NetData vs opentelemetry-cpp
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. opentelemetry-cpp has 1,377 stars, 631 forks, 290 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NetData leads on adoption by 5,751% (80,564 vs 1,377 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; opentelemetry-cpp is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, opentelemetry-cpp 46%. opentelemetry-cpp 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 | opentelemetry-cpp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 631 |
| 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 opentelemetry-cpp if
- You want the opentelemetry-cpp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and opentelemetry-cpp 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 opentelemetry-cpp
OpenTelemetry C++ is the official C++ client for OpenTelemetry, the vendor neutral observability framework, and it is built for C++ application owners and library authors who need to emit logs, metrics, and traces from native code.
read the full opentelemetry-cpp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or opentelemetry-cpp more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and opentelemetry-cpp has 1,377. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and opentelemetry-cpp free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and opentelemetry-cpp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and opentelemetry-cpp?
NetData is written in Go and opentelemetry-cpp in C++. 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 opentelemetry-cpp?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose opentelemetry-cpp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.