Apache SkyWalking vs Smokeping Prober
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?
Apache SkyWalking
APM and observability for cloud-native architectures
VS
Smokeping Prober
Prometheus exporter that probes latency like Smokeping
| Feature | Apache SkyWalking | Smokeping Prober |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, binary, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,915 | ★ 729 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | New Relic, Datadog | SmokePing, PingPlotter |
Why pick each one
Choose Apache SkyWalking if…
- Full observability suite
- Strong Apache governance
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or Smokeping Prober better?
Neither is universally better. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community, while Smokeping Prober is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apache SkyWalking and Smokeping Prober free and open-source?
Yes. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Smokeping Prober under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache SkyWalking and Smokeping Prober with Docker?
Apache SkyWalking: yes. Smokeping Prober: yes.