head to head · open source
witr vs kubeshark
witr has 22,918 GitHub stars, 810 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. kubeshark has 12,127 stars, 558 forks, 149 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. witr leads on adoption by 89% (22,918 vs 12,127 stars). witr is written in Go under Apache-2.0; kubeshark is written in Go under Apache-2.0. witr has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, kubeshark 5%. kubeshark was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (devops, docker, golang, incident-response), 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
| witr | kubeshark | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 810 | ⑂ 558 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick witr if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kubeshark if
- You want the kubeshark 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 kubeshark fits your workflow better
About witr
witr Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to the exact chain that started it — one command, machine readable JSON, or an interactive TUI. 🎮 Try witr in your browser → Investigate a simulated Linux box — a guided tutorial and free play sandbox, no install required. Purpose • Installation • TUI • Flags • Core Concept • Examples Output Behavior • Platforms • Success Criteria • Sponsors 1. Purpose witr exists to answer a single question: Why is this running? When something is running on a system, whether it is a process, a service, or something bound to a port, there is always a…
About kubeshark
Network Observability for SREs & AI Agents Live Demo · Docs Kubeshark indexes cluster wide network traffic at the kernel level using eBPF — delivering instant answers to any query using network, API, and Kubernetes semantics. What you can do: Download Retrospective PCAPs — cluster wide packet captures filtered by nodes, time, workloads, and IPs. Store PCAPs for long term retention and later investigation. Visualize Network Data — explore traffic matching queries with API, Kubernetes, or network semantics through a real time dashboard. See Encrypted Traffic in Plain Text — automatically decrypt TLS/mTLS traffic…
read the full kubeshark overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is witr or kubeshark more popular?
witr has 22,918 GitHub stars and kubeshark has 12,127. witr has the larger community by that measure.
Are witr and kubeshark free?
Both are open source. witr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kubeshark under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between witr and kubeshark?
witr is written in Go and kubeshark 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, witr or kubeshark?
Choose witr if you want the larger community (22,918 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kubeshark if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.