Jaeger 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?
FeatureJaegerApache SkyWalking
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoJava
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmdocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 23,082★ 24,915
First released20172015
ReplacesDatadog APM, New RelicNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Jaeger if…

  • CNCF graduated project
  • Mature and widely adopted
Jaeger details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jaeger or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are Jaeger and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

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

Can I run Jaeger and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Jaeger: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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