LibreNMS 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?
FeatureLibreNMSApache SkyWalking
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 4,823★ 24,915
First released20132015
ReplacesNagiosNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose LibreNMS if…

  • Great for network devices
  • Strong auto-discovery
  • Active community
LibreNMS details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is LibreNMS or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are LibreNMS and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

Yes. LibreNMS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Apache SkyWalking under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LibreNMS and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

LibreNMS: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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