Apache SkyWalking vs Uptrace
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Apache SkyWalking | Uptrace |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSL-1.1 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,962 | ★ 4,290 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | New Relic, Datadog | Datadog, New Relic |
What are Apache SkyWalking and Uptrace?
Apache SkyWalking
Apache SkyWalking is an APM and observability platform for distributed systems, especially microservices and cloud-native architectures. It provides tracing, metrics, logging, and service topology analysis.
- Distributed tracing and metrics
- Service topology maps
- eBPF and OTel integration
- Alerting engine
Uptrace
Uptrace is an open-source observability tool that uses OpenTelemetry to collect distributed traces, metrics, and logs. It stores data in ClickHouse and provides a clean UI for analyzing application performance.
- Distributed tracing
- Metrics and logs support
- ClickHouse storage
- OpenTelemetry-native
Apache SkyWalking vs Uptrace: key differences
Apache SkyWalking is written in Java, while Uptrace is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Apache SkyWalking versus BSL-1.1 for Uptrace. Uptrace is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Apache SkyWalking. Apache SkyWalking is the more established project (first released 2015), while Uptrace arrived in 2021. Apache SkyWalking has the considerably larger community, at 24,962 GitHub stars versus 4,290.
Why pick each one
Choose Apache SkyWalking if…
- Full observability suite
- Strong Apache governance
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Storage backend required
Choose Uptrace if…
- Efficient ClickHouse backend
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- BSL license restrictions
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache SkyWalking or Uptrace better?
Neither is universally better. Apache SkyWalking has the larger community, while Uptrace is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apache SkyWalking and Uptrace free and open-source?
Yes. Apache SkyWalking is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Uptrace under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache SkyWalking and Uptrace with Docker?
Apache SkyWalking: yes. Uptrace: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Apache SkyWalking or Uptrace?
Uptrace has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Apache SkyWalking. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.