Open-Source Observability · apache

skywalking

Apache SkyWalking is an open-source APM (Application Performance Monitoring) system designed for distributed systems and microservices architectures. It provides end-to-end tracing, metrics collection, log management, and alerting across cloud-native deployments. The project supports multiple language agents and integrates with ecosystems like OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and Grafana.

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Source: GitHub — github.com/apache/skywalking

24.9k

GitHub stars

6.6k

Forks

Java

Primary language

Apache-2.0

License (OSI-approved)

Key facts

Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.

Field	Value
Repository	apache/skywalking
Owner	apache
Primary language	Java
License	Apache-2.0 — OSI-approved
Stars	24.9k
Forks	6.6k
Open issues	21
Latest release	v10.4.0 (2026-04-01)
Last updated	2026-07-07
Source	https://github.com/apache/skywalking

What skywalking is

SkyWalking is a Java-based distributed tracing and observability platform that ingests traces, metrics, and logs via native agents and compatible protocols (OpenTelemetry, Zipkin, Prometheus). It includes eBPF-powered profiling (Rover agent), a custom observability database (BanyanDB), and ML-assisted anomaly detection and baseline calculation. Designed to scale to 100+ billion telemetry data points per cluster.

Quickstart

Get the skywalking source

Clone the repository and explore it locally.

terminalbash

1git clone https://github.com/apache/skywalking.git2cd skywalking3# follow the project's README for install & configuration

Need it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.

Best use cases

Microservices and Distributed System Observability

End-to-end request tracing across service boundaries, service topology discovery, and service-centric dashboards for real-time visibility into distributed architectures.

Kubernetes and Container Performance Monitoring

eBPF-based Rover agent provides kernel-level CPU, memory, and network profiling without agent instrumentation overhead in containerized environments.

Multi-Telemetry Integration and Unified Analysis

Consolidate metrics, traces, and logs from disparate sources (Prometheus, Zabbix, Telegraf, OpenTelemetry) into a single platform with consistent aggregation and alerting.

Implementation considerations

Multiple language agents available (Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, Go, Rust, Python, C++, JavaScript) but maturity and feature parity vary—verify agent stability for your stack.
BanyanDB is the native database; alternative backends (Elasticsearch, ClickHouse) may be required depending on scale and cost constraints.
eBPF Rover agent requires kernel version ≥4.4 and elevated permissions; compatibility matrix should be verified for target Kubernetes nodes.
Distributed tracing requires instrumentation or auto-discovery; assess overhead and compatibility with existing observability pipelines.
ML/AI features (baseline calculation, HTTP URI pattern recognition) are documented but effectiveness depends on data quality and historical sample size.

When to avoid it — and what to weigh

Monolithic Applications Only — SkyWalking's strength lies in distributed tracing and service topology. For single-instance monolithic systems, simpler APM tools or traditional monitoring may be more cost-effective.
Minimal Infrastructure Budget or Small Teams — SkyWalking requires deployment and operation of collectors, UI, databases (BanyanDB or alternatives), and storage. Overhead is significant for small-scale operations without dedicated DevOps capacity.
Strict Real-Time Sub-Second Alerting Requirement — While SkyWalking supports alerting, latency from data ingestion to alert may not meet critical infrastructure demands requiring sub-second response times.
Proprietary APM Vendor Lock-In Preference — Organizations already committed to commercial APM vendors (Datadog, New Relic, Splunk) may face integration complexity and cost of dual tooling.

License & commercial use

Apache License 2.0 (AL 2.0) is a permissive, OSI-approved license. Permits commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions (retain copyright notice, state changes, include license).

Apache 2.0 permits commercial use without explicit permission. However, any derivative work or integration with proprietary systems must retain license headers and documentation of modifications. Consult your legal team for derivative product licensing and warranty disclaimers.

DEV.co evaluation signals

Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.

Signal	Assessment
Maintenance	Active
Documentation	Strong
License clarity	Clear
Deployment complexity	High
DEV.co fit	Good
Assessment confidence	High

Security considerations

No exploits or vulnerability data provided. General considerations: collector and UI services should be network-isolated or authenticated; eBPF Rover requires elevated kernel access (audit carefully); ensure transport TLS/mTLS for agent-to-collector communication; validate input handling in log ingestion pipeline and script execution. Consult CVE databases and security advisories regularly.

Alternatives to consider

Jaeger (CNCF)

Focused, lighter-weight distributed tracing with strong Kubernetes integration; lacks native metrics/logging pipeline and database optimization.

Grafana Loki + Tempo

Modular open-source observability stack; flexible but requires separate component assembly; less out-of-the-box service topology discovery.

Datadog or New Relic (commercial)

Fully managed, vendor-supported APM with advanced ML and broad integration; higher cost and proprietary platform lock-in.

Software development agency

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skywalking FAQ

Do I need to instrument my code to use SkyWalking?

For most languages, SkyWalking agents provide auto-instrumentation (Java via javaagent, .NET via profiler). Full tracing requires agent deployment. eBPF Rover can provide system-level profiling without code changes but does not replace distributed tracing.

What database should I use for production?

BanyanDB (custom observability DB by SkyWalking team) is the recommended native choice for large-scale deployments. Elasticsearch and ClickHouse are supported alternatives. Database choice impacts cost, query performance, and retention policies.

Is SkyWalking suitable for serverless/Lambda monitoring?

Unknown. README does not detail serverless agent support or cold-start implications. Requires explicit verification with serverless compute platforms (AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions).

Can I use SkyWalking with my existing Prometheus and Grafana stack?

Yes. SkyWalking ingests Prometheus metrics and can expose metrics via Prometheus scrape endpoints. Grafana can query SkyWalking datasource. However, full feature parity with native SkyWalking UI may require dual dashboards.

Software development & web development with DEV.co

From first prototype to production, DEV.co delivers software development services around tools like skywalking. Our software development agency staffs experienced software developers and web developers for custom software development, web development, integrations, and ongoing support across open-source observability and beyond.

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