head to head · open source
SigNoz vs kiali
SigNoz has 32,525 GitHub stars, 2,576 forks, 1,557 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kiali has 3,648 stars, 575 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SigNoz leads on adoption by 792% (32,525 vs 3,648 stars). SigNoz is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; kiali is written in Go under Apache-2.0. SigNoz has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, kiali 16%. SigNoz was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (observability), 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
| SigNoz | kiali | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 575 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SigNoz if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kiali if
- You want the kiali feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and kiali fits your workflow better
About SigNoz
中文 · Deutsch · Português SigNoz is an open source observability platform built on OpenTelemetry. We’re building an enterprise grade alternative to fragmented monitoring stacks, with logs, metrics, traces, alerts, and dashboards in one place. Choose how to run SigNoz SigNoz Cloud (Recommended) Fully managed SigNoz with a 30 day free trial, no credit card required, usage based pricing that starts at $49, and regional data hosting. Start free → Enterprise Enterprise Cloud, BYOC, or Enterprise Self Hosted with compliance, support, custom retention, RBAC, ingestion controls, data residency, and region selection…
read the full SigNoz overview →
About kiali
= Kiali image: about Kiali", link=" :toc: macro :toc title: image: 2.0 license", link="LICENSE"] == Introduction link: is a management console for Istio service mesh. Kiali can be quickly installed as an Istio add on or integrated as a trusted component within a production environment. === Table of contents toc::[] === Contributing First, check the link: section on kiali.io], which provides a brief introduction on contributing, how to report issues and request features, and how to reach us. For those interested in making code contributions, please also check the link:./CONTRIBUTING.md[Contribution Guide]. ===…
read the full kiali overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SigNoz or kiali more popular?
SigNoz has 32,525 GitHub stars and kiali has 3,648. SigNoz has the larger community by that measure.
Are SigNoz and kiali free?
Both are open source. SigNoz has no licence declared in this registry, and kiali is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between SigNoz and kiali?
SigNoz is written in TypeScript and kiali in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SigNoz or kiali?
Choose SigNoz if you want the larger community (32,525 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose kiali if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.