Heimdall vs Apache SkyWalking

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureHeimdallApache SkyWalking
CategoryDashboards & StartpagesMonitoring & Status
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 9,291★ 24,915
First released20172015
ReplacesHeimdallNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Heimdall if…

  • Very simple to set up
  • Clean look
  • Low maintenance
Heimdall details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Heimdall or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are Heimdall and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

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

Can I run Heimdall and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Heimdall: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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