Comparison

Apache SkyWalking vs Pinpoint APM

No clear leader: Apache SkyWalking (52.9) and Pinpoint APM (52.1) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Apache SkyWalking53
Pinpoint APM52
Score
vioscaleAI score
Apache SkyWalking53 / 100medium · 55%
Pinpoint APM52 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM–
Model
Apache SkyWalkingopen_source
Pinpoint APMopen_source
Price level
Apache SkyWalkingfree
Pinpoint APMfree
Transparent
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM–
Integrations
Count
Apache SkyWalking18
Pinpoint APM10
Reliability
Status page
Apache SkyWalking–
Pinpoint APM✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache SkyWalking106
Pinpoint APM56
Github stars
Apache SkyWalking24,968
Pinpoint APM13,866
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache SkyWalking21
Pinpoint APM100
Release
Cadence days
Apache SkyWalking93
Pinpoint APM88
History
Apache SkyWalking20 items
Pinpoint APM20 items
License
Spdx
Apache SkyWalkingApache-2.0
Pinpoint APMApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Apache SkyWalkingJava
Pinpoint APMJava
Content
Faq
Apache SkyWalking6 items
Pinpoint APM6 items

Capabilities

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

Instrumentation
Auto-instrumentation
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Distributed tracing
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Insight
Service map
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Code / continuous profiling
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Database monitoring
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Error analytics
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Real-user monitoring
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM-
SLO / error-budget tracking
Apache SkyWalking-
Pinpoint APM-
Intelligence
Anomaly / root-cause AI
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM-
Standards
OpenTelemetry support
Apache SkyWalkingOTLP ingest
Pinpoint APM-
Core
Language agents
Apache SkyWalking10+ language agents supported
Pinpoint APMJava, PHP, Python
Deployment
Hosting
Apache SkyWalkingCloud + self-hosted
Pinpoint APMSelf-hosted only

What each one is

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

Apache SkyWalking

An open-source system for monitoring and analyzing distributed applications with comprehensive tracing, service topology visualization, and multi-signal observability for microservices and AI workloads.

Independently observed

Pinpoint APM

A management system for monitoring applications across interconnected systems, tracking how requests flow through components to identify bottlenecks and performance issues without code instrumentation.

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 source
as of verify ↗

Pinpoint APM

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Linux
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✗
CLI
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓
Self-hosted
Apache SkyWalking✓
Pinpoint APM✓

Integrations

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

In common (7)
  • Kafka
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • Pulsar
  • ClickHouse
  • MongoDB

Apache SkyWalking

33 total - 26 not shared
  • Apache APISIX
  • Grafana
  • OpenTelemetry Collector
  • Amazon Bedrock
  • OpenAI
  • WeChat Mini Program
  • Alipay Mini Program
  • Envoy
  • DeepSeek
  • Claude Sonnet
  • Zipkin
  • OpenTelemetry
  • Prometheus
  • Zabbix
  • Fluentd
  • Flink
  • Kong
  • Apache RocketMQ
  • Apache ActiveMQ
  • Nginx
  • Kubernetes
  • Cilium
  • BookKeeper
  • ChatGPT
  • +2 more
Independently observed

Pinpoint APM

53 total - 46 not shared
  • Tomcat
  • Jetty
  • JBoss EAP
  • Websphere
  • Vertx
  • Weblogic
  • Undertow
  • Akka HTTP
  • Spring
  • Spring Boot
  • Spring WebFlux
  • Spring Cloud Sleuth
  • Ktor
  • Apache HttpClient
  • JDK HttpClient
  • GoogleHttpClient
  • OkHttpClient
  • NingAsyncHttpClient
  • Netty
  • Thrift
  • DUBBO
  • gRPC
  • Apache CXF
  • ActiveMQ
  • +22 more
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Apache SkyWalking or Pinpoint APM: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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