Beszel vs Apache SkyWalking

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureBeszelApache SkyWalking
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageGoJava
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM128 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 24,108★ 24,915
First released20242015
ReplacesUptimeRobotNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Beszel if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Simple multi-host view
  • Easy setup
Beszel details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Beszel or Apache SkyWalking better?

Neither is universally better. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community, while Beszel is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Beszel and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

Yes. Beszel is licensed under MIT and Apache SkyWalking under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Beszel and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Beszel: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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