head to head · open source
NetData vs swift-metrics
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. swift-metrics has 795 stars, 81 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 10,034% (80,564 vs 795 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; swift-metrics is written in Swift under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, swift-metrics 10%. 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 | swift-metrics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 795 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 81 |
| 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 swift-metrics if
- You want the swift-metrics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and swift-metrics 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 swift-metrics
SwiftMetrics is the Apache 2.0 metrics API package for Swift, a shared abstraction that lets server side and cross platform Swift applications emit metrics for observability through whichever backend an application owner selects rather than tying emission code to a single library.
read the full swift-metrics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or swift-metrics more popular?
NetData has 80,564 GitHub stars and swift-metrics has 795. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and swift-metrics free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and swift-metrics under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and swift-metrics?
NetData is written in Go and swift-metrics in Swift. 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 swift-metrics?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,564 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose swift-metrics if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.