JSON Exporter 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?
JSON Exporter
Prometheus exporter that scrapes metrics from JSON APIs
VS
Apache SkyWalking
APM and observability for cloud-native architectures
| Feature | JSON Exporter | Apache SkyWalking |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 739 | ★ 24,915 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Datadog | New Relic, Datadog |
Why pick each one
Choose JSON Exporter if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Apache SkyWalking if…
- Full observability suite
- Strong Apache governance
Frequently asked questions
Is JSON Exporter or Apache SkyWalking better?
Neither is universally better. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community, while JSON Exporter is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are JSON Exporter and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?
Yes. JSON Exporter 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 JSON Exporter and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?
JSON Exporter: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.