OpenObserve vs SigNoz
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
OpenObserve
Open-source observability platform for logs, metrics and traces
VS
SigNoz
Open-source APM and observability platform
| Feature | OpenObserve | SigNoz |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,117 | ★ 32,176 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Datadog, Elasticsearch | Datadog, New Relic |
What are OpenObserve and SigNoz?
OpenObserve
OpenObserve is a cloud-native observability platform for logs, metrics, traces, and real user monitoring. It promises significantly lower storage costs than alternatives while remaining easy to run.
- Logs, metrics, and traces
- Very low storage footprint
- Single binary option
- Built-in dashboards
SigNoz
SigNoz is an open-source application performance monitoring and observability platform built on OpenTelemetry. It unifies metrics, traces, and logs in a single self-hosted tool.
- OpenTelemetry native
- Unified metrics, traces, logs
- Application performance monitoring
- Custom dashboards and alerts
OpenObserve vs SigNoz: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for OpenObserve versus MIT for SigNoz. OpenObserve is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for SigNoz. SigNoz is the more established project (first released 2021), while OpenObserve arrived in 2023.
Why pick each one
Choose OpenObserve if…
- Very low storage costs
- Single binary start
- Logs, metrics, traces unified
Watch out for
- AGPL license
- Less mature ecosystem
Choose SigNoz if…
- Metrics traces logs unified
- OpenTelemetry native
- Flexible query dashboards
Watch out for
- ClickHouse dependency heavy
- Resource-hungry stack
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenObserve or SigNoz better?
Neither is universally better. SigNoz has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenObserve and SigNoz free and open-source?
Yes. OpenObserve is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SigNoz under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenObserve and SigNoz with Docker?
OpenObserve: yes. SigNoz: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OpenObserve or SigNoz?
OpenObserve has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for SigNoz. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.