head to head · open source
NetData vs qtap
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. qtap has 1,465 stars, 57 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 5,446% (81,255 vs 1,465 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 | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 57 |
| 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
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 qtap
An eBPF agent that captures traffic flowing through the Linux kernel. By attaching to TLS/SSL functions, data is intercepted before and after encryption and then passed to flexible plugins with full visibility along with all of the available context process/container/host/user/protocol/etc. Qtap makes it possible to understand what's happening with your egress traffic, without modifying apps, installing proxies, or managing certs. Qtap shows you exactly what data is being sent and received in its original, unencrypted form while operating out of band with minimal overhead, without adding latency or disrupting…
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or qtap more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and qtap has 1,465. 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 (81,255 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.