Vmstat 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?
Vmstat Exporter
Prometheus exporter for assorted system metrics
VS
Apache SkyWalking
APM and observability for cloud-native architectures
| Feature | Vmstat Exporter | Apache SkyWalking |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,608 | ★ 24,915 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Datadog Agent | New Relic, Datadog |
Why pick each one
Choose Vmstat Exporter if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose Apache SkyWalking if…
- Full observability suite
- Strong Apache governance
Frequently asked questions
Is Vmstat Exporter or Apache SkyWalking better?
Neither is universally better. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community, while Vmstat Exporter is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Vmstat Exporter and Apache SkyWalking free and open-source?
Yes. Vmstat 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 Vmstat Exporter and Apache SkyWalking with Docker?
Vmstat Exporter: yes. Apache SkyWalking: yes.