head to head · open source
OpenObserve vs dd-trace-java
OpenObserve has 22,777 GitHub stars, 1,179 forks, 598 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dd-trace-java has 738 stars, 364 forks, 478 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenObserve leads on adoption by 2,986% (22,777 vs 738 stars). OpenObserve is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; dd-trace-java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. OpenObserve has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, dd-trace-java 49%. OpenObserve was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (apm, datadog), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| OpenObserve | dd-trace-java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 738 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 364 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenObserve if
- You weight community size — 23K 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 dd-trace-java if
- You want the dd-trace-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 dd-trace-java fits your workflow better
About OpenObserve
Open source Datadog alternative for logs, metrics, traces, and frontend monitoring. Modern observability platform: 10x easier, 140x lower storage cost, high performance, petabyte scale. Cloud · Documentation · Slack · Quickstart OpenObserve (O2) is a cloud native observability platform for logs, metrics, traces, analytics, Real User Monitoring (RUM), and AI/LLM observability. It's a cost effective alternative to Datadog, Splunk, and Elasticsearch for teams that need full observability without the complexity or cost — with Parquet columnar storage and an S3 native design that cuts storage costs by up to 140x…
read the full OpenObserve overview →
About dd-trace-java
Datadog Java APM This repository contains dd trace java , Datadog's APM client Java library. dd trace java contains APIs to automatically or manually trace and profile Java applications. These features power Distributed Tracing with Automatic Instrumentation, Continuous Profiling, Error Tracking, Continuous Integration Visibility, Deployment Tracking, Code Hotspots and more. Getting Started To use and configure, check out the [setup documentation][setup docs]. For advanced usage, check out the [configuration reference][configuration reference] and [custom instrumentation API][api docs]. Confused about the…
read the full dd-trace-java overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Monitoring & Observability projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Monitoring & Observability field.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenObserve or dd-trace-java more popular?
OpenObserve has 22,777 GitHub stars and dd-trace-java has 738. OpenObserve has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenObserve and dd-trace-java free?
Both are open source. OpenObserve is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and dd-trace-java under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenObserve and dd-trace-java?
OpenObserve is written in TypeScript and dd-trace-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, OpenObserve or dd-trace-java?
Choose OpenObserve if you want the larger community (22,777 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dd-trace-java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.