head to head · open source
SigNoz vs skywalking-java
SigNoz has 32,525 GitHub stars, 2,576 forks, 1,557 open issues and last shipped today. skywalking-java has 927 stars, 694 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SigNoz leads on adoption by 3,409% (32,525 vs 927 stars). SigNoz is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; skywalking-java is written in Java under Apache-2.0. SigNoz has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, skywalking-java 75%. SigNoz was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (apm, distributed-tracing, metrics, 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 | skywalking-java | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 927 |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 694 |
| 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 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 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 skywalking-java
Apache SkyWalking Java Agent ========== SkyWalking Java: The Java Agent for Apache SkyWalking, which provides the native tracing/metrics/logging abilities for Java projects. SkyWalking: an APM(application performance monitor) system, especially designed for microservices, cloud native and container based (Docker and Kubernetes) architectures. Documentation Official documentation Downloads Please head to the releases page to download a release of Apache SkyWalking. Code of conduct This project adheres to the Contributor Covenant code of conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code. Please…
read the full skywalking-java overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SigNoz or skywalking-java more popular?
SigNoz has 32,525 GitHub stars and skywalking-java has 927. SigNoz has the larger community by that measure.
Are SigNoz and skywalking-java free?
Both are open source. SigNoz has no licence declared in this registry, and skywalking-java is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between SigNoz and skywalking-java?
SigNoz is written in TypeScript 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, SigNoz or skywalking-java?
Choose SigNoz if you want the larger community (32,525 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose skywalking-java if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.