head to head · open source
OpenObserve vs client_python
OpenObserve has 22,027 GitHub stars, 1,098 forks, 598 open issues and last shipped today. client_python has 4,375 stars, 876 forks, 150 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. OpenObserve leads on adoption by 403% (22,027 vs 4,375 stars). OpenObserve is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; client_python is written in Python under Apache-2.0. OpenObserve has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, client_python 20%. OpenObserve was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (metrics), 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
| OpenObserve | client_python | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 876 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenObserve if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick client_python if
- You want the client_python feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and client_python fits your workflow better
About OpenObserve
OpenObserve is an open source observability platform for logs, metrics, traces, analytics, Real User Monitoring, session replay, pipelines, SLO, and LLM observability. It lives in the cloud native infrastructure ecosystem and is described as an alternative to Datadog, Splunk, and Elasticsearch. The project is built in Rust, ships as a single binary, and uses Parquet columnar storage with an S3 native design.
read the full OpenObserve overview →
About client_python
client python is the official Prometheus instrumentation library for Python applications, letting Python code expose metrics that a Prometheus server collects, and it is aimed at Python developers and reliability engineers who need their services measurable inside a Prometheus monitoring stack.
read the full client_python overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenObserve or client_python more popular?
OpenObserve has 22,027 GitHub stars and client_python has 4,375. OpenObserve has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenObserve and client_python free?
Both are open source. OpenObserve is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and client_python under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenObserve and client_python?
OpenObserve is written in TypeScript and client_python 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, OpenObserve or client_python?
Choose OpenObserve if you want the larger community (22,027 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose client_python if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.