SHSelfHostIndex

MySQL Server 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?
MY MySQL Server Exporter Official Prometheus exporter for MySQL and MariaDB VS AP Apache SkyWalking APM and observability for cloud-native architectures
FeatureMySQL Server ExporterApache SkyWalking
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoJava
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM64 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, kubernetesdocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 2,460★ 24,915
First released20152015
ReplacesDatadog MySQL, VividCortexNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose MySQL Server Exporter if…

  • Reliable and well-tested
  • Granular collector toggles
MySQL Server Exporter details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is MySQL Server Exporter or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are MySQL Server Exporter and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

Yes. MySQL Server 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 MySQL Server Exporter and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

MySQL Server Exporter: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

Related comparisons