Metabase 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.

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FeatureMetabaseApache SkyWalking
CategoryWeb AnalyticsMonitoring & Status
LicenseAGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageClojureJava
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, binarydocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 48,597★ 24,915
First released20152015
ReplacesTableau, LookerNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Metabase if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 48.6k GitHub stars
  • Written in Clojure
Metabase details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Metabase or Apache SkyWalking better?

Metabase is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Apache SkyWalking if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Metabase and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

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

Can I run Metabase and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Metabase: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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