head to head · open source
NetData vs skywalking-java
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. skywalking-java has 925 stars, 691 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 8,610% (80,564 vs 925 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; skywalking-java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, skywalking-java 75%. 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 | skywalking-java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 925 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 691 |
| 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 skywalking-java if
- You want the skywalking-java feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and skywalking-java 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 skywalking-java
skywalking java is the Java agent for Apache SkyWalking, aimed at teams that run Java microservices on cloud native, container based architectures and need native tracing, metrics, and logging for their projects.
read the full skywalking-java overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or skywalking-java more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and skywalking-java has 925. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and skywalking-java free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and skywalking-java under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and skywalking-java?
NetData is written in Go and skywalking-java in Java. 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 skywalking-java?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose skywalking-java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.