Portainer CE 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.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturePortainer CEApache SkyWalking
CategoryDashboards & StartpagesMonitoring & Status
LicenseZlibApache-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptJava
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmdocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 38,184★ 24,915
First released20162015
ReplacesRancher, Docker DesktopNew Relic, Datadog

Why pick each one

Choose Portainer CE if…

  • Very beginner-friendly
  • Broad orchestrator support
Portainer CE details

Choose Apache SkyWalking if…

  • Full observability suite
  • Strong Apache governance
Apache SkyWalking details

Frequently asked questions

Is Portainer CE or Apache SkyWalking better?

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

Are Portainer CE and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?

Yes. Portainer CE is licensed under Zlib and Apache SkyWalking under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Portainer CE and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?

Portainer CE: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.

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