head to head · open source
NetData vs pg_activity
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pg_activity has 3,038 stars, 190 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. NetData leads on adoption by 2,552% (80,564 vs 3,038 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; pg_activity is written in Python under PostgreSQL. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pg_activity 6%. 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 | pg_activity | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | PostgreSQL |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 190 |
| 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 pg_activity if
- You want the pg_activity feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the PostgreSQL license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pg_activity 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 pg_activity
pg activity is a top like command line tool for PostgreSQL server activity monitoring, built for database administrators, on call engineers, and developers who need real time visibility into what queries and sessions a PostgreSQL instance is running.
read the full pg_activity overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or pg_activity more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and pg_activity has 3,038. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and pg_activity free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pg_activity under PostgreSQL. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and pg_activity?
NetData is written in Go and pg_activity in Python. 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 pg_activity?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pg_activity if its feature set, stack or PostgreSQL licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.