head to head · open source
NetData vs qtap
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. qtap has 1,459 stars, 55 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 5,422% (80,564 vs 1,459 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; qtap is written in C under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, qtap 4%. NetData was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (kubernetes, linux), 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 | qtap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 55 |
| 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 qtap if
- You want the qtap 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 qtap 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 qtap
Qtap is an Apache 2.0 eBPF agent that intercepts network traffic inside the Linux kernel at the TLS/SSL layer, letting platform engineers, SREs, security auditors, and application developers inspect egress connections and the originating processes without modifying applications, deploying proxies, or managing certificates.
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or qtap more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and qtap has 1,459. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and qtap free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and qtap under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and qtap?
NetData is written in Go and qtap 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 qtap?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose qtap if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.