Hertzbeat 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?
FeatureHertzbeatApache SkyWalking
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaJava
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 7,351★ 24,915
First released20222015
ReplacesZabbix, DatadogNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Hertzbeat if…

  • No agents to deploy
  • Flexible templates
Hertzbeat details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Hertzbeat or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are Hertzbeat and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

Yes. Hertzbeat 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 Hertzbeat and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Hertzbeat: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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