Comparison

Apache SkyWalking vs Instana

On the evidence we track, Instana leads this comparison with a composite score of 59/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Apache SkyWalking full profile →Instana full profile →

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Apache SkyWalking53

★Instana59

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Apache SkyWalking	InstanaLeader
Vioscale score	53 / 100medium · 54%updating	59 / 100low · 40%updating
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	quote
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✗
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	14	300
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	7	-
Soc2security.soc2	-	✓
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.apache.skywalking%3Azipkin-receiver-plugin&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	106	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	24,930	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	20	-
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	89	-
Historyrelease.history	20 items	-
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Java	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide

Score

Vioscale score

Apache SkyWalking53 / 100medium · 54%updating

Instana59 / 100low · 40%updating

Pricing

Free tier

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Model

Apache SkyWalkingopen_source

Instanaquote

Price level

Apache SkyWalkingfree

Instanalow

Transparent

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✗

Integrations

Count

Apache SkyWalking14

Instana300

Security

Disclosure policy

Apache SkyWalking–

Instana✓

Gdpr

Apache SkyWalking–

Instana✓

Scorecard

Apache SkyWalking7

Instana–

Soc2

Apache SkyWalking–

Instana✓

Vulnerabilities

Apache SkyWalkingCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.apache.skywalking%3Azipkin-receiver-plugin&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Instana–

Adoption

Dependent repos

Apache SkyWalking106

Instana–

Github stars

Apache SkyWalking24,930

Instana–

Activity

Commits last 30d

Apache SkyWalking20

Instana–

Release

Cadence days

Apache SkyWalking89

Instana–

History

Apache SkyWalking20 items

Instana–

License

Spdx

Apache SkyWalkingApache-2.0

Instana–

Language

Primary

Apache SkyWalkingJava

Instana–

Market

Availability

Apache SkyWalking–

InstanaAvailable worldwide

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for apm tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for APM Tools
Capability	Apache SkyWalking	Instana
Instrumentation
Auto-instrumentation	✓	✓
Distributed tracing	✓	✓
Insight
Service map	✓	✓
Code / continuous profiling	✓	✓
Database monitoring	✓	✓
Error analytics	✓	✓
Real-user monitoring	✓	✓
SLO / error-budget tracking	-	-
Intelligence
Anomaly / root-cause AI	✓	✓
Standards
OpenTelemetry support	OTLP ingest	OTLP ingest
Core
Language agents	10+ language agents supported	300+ technologies supported
Deployment
Hosting	Cloud + self-hosted	Cloud + self-hosted

Instrumentation

Auto-instrumentation

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Distributed tracing

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Insight

Service map

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Code / continuous profiling

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Database monitoring

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Error analytics

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Real-user monitoring

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

SLO / error-budget tracking

Apache SkyWalking-

Instana-

Intelligence

Anomaly / root-cause AI

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Standards

OpenTelemetry support

Apache SkyWalkingOTLP ingest

InstanaOTLP ingest

Core

Language agents

Apache SkyWalking10+ language agents supported

Instana300+ technologies supported

Deployment

Hosting

Apache SkyWalkingCloud + self-hosted

InstanaCloud + self-hosted

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apache SkyWalking

An open-source observability platform combining distributed tracing, metrics, logs, and profiling in one interface. Provides automatic instrumentation across 10+ languages, interactive service topology visualization, database monitoring, and an AI assistant for answering observability questions in natural language.

Independently observed

Instana

Leader

A monitoring and observability platform that automatically discovers and monitors applications and infrastructure, providing real-time full-stack visibility with AI-powered incident investigation and performance optimization.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apache SkyWalking

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Instana

Leader

SubscriptionFree tier14-day trial

EssentialsContact sales
- Infrastructure monitoring
- Automatic infrastructure dynamic map
- Cloud, hybrid and on-premise discovery
- Kubernetes and orchestration monitoring
StandardContact sales
- Distributed end-to-end tracing
- Website and mobile observability
- Code-level visibility
- Synthetic monitoring
- Business process monitoring
- +3 more

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Apache SkyWalking	Instana
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✗
On-premiseDeployment	✗	✓
HybridDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

CLI

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✓

Self-hosted

Apache SkyWalking✓

Instana✗

On-premise

Apache SkyWalking✗

Instana✓

Hybrid

Apache SkyWalking✗

Instana✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (3)

MySQL
PostgreSQL
Redis

Apache SkyWalking

14 total - 11 not shared

Apache APISIX
Grafana
OpenTelemetry Collector
Amazon Bedrock
OpenAI
WeChat Mini Program
Alipay Mini Program
Kafka
Envoy
DeepSeek
Claude Sonnet

Independently observed

Instana

Leader

32 total - 29 not shared

ServiceNow
AWS
Azure
Google Cloud
Oracle Cloud
IBM Cloud
Kubernetes
VMware Tanzu
Cloud Foundry
VSphere
MongoDB
Cassandra
Oracle Database
IBM Db2
Microsoft SQL Server
SAP HANA
Apache Spark
Hadoop YARN
Apache HBase
ClickHouse
OpenSearch
GraphQL
AWS EC2
AWS RDS
+5 more

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.