NGINXvsApache SkyWalking
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NGINX | Apache SkyWalking | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Web Servers | #2 of 9 in Application Performance Monitoring |
| GitHub stars | 32 003 | 24 977 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +279 | +3 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 3 |
| Latest release | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v11.0.0 · 28 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | C | Java |
Which one should you pick?
NGINX scores 84/100 against 76/100 for Apache SkyWalking, so it is the safer default.
NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Apache SkyWalking.
If you want the quickest setup, NGINX is easier to run; Apache SkyWalking needs more configuration.
NGINX is growing faster right now (+279 stars in 30 days).
NGINX details →Apache SkyWalking details →
Swap a project
Keep NGINX, compare it with
Keep Apache SkyWalking, compare it with