vioscaleAI
Comparison

Apache SkyWalking vs Tideways

On the evidence we track, Apache SkyWalking leads this comparison with a composite score of 53/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Apache SkyWalking full profile →Tideways full profile →
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★Apache SkyWalking53
Tideways44
Score
vioscaleAI score
Apache SkyWalking53 / 100medium · 55%
Tideways44 / 100medium · 65%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✗
Model
Apache SkyWalkingopen_source
Tidewayscommercial
Price level
Apache SkyWalkingfree
Tidewaysunknown
Transparent
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✓
Integrations
Count
Apache SkyWalking18
Tideways7
Security
Gdpr
Apache SkyWalking–
Tideways✓
Pci
Apache SkyWalking–
Tideways✓
Scorecard
Apache SkyWalking7
Tideways–
Trust center
Apache SkyWalking–
Tidewayshttps://tideways.com/security
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Apache SkyWalking–
Tideways✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache SkyWalking106
Tideways–
Github stars
Apache SkyWalking24,968
Tideways–
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache SkyWalking21
Tideways–
Release
Cadence days
Apache SkyWalking93
Tideways–
History
Apache SkyWalking20 items
Tideways–
License
Spdx
Apache SkyWalkingApache-2.0
Tideways–
Language
Primary
Apache SkyWalkingJava
Tideways–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Apache SkyWalking6 items
Tideways6 items

Capabilities

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

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

What each one is

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

Apache SkyWalking

Leader

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

Tideways

PHP application performance monitoring, profiling, and error tracking. Tideways shows where performance breaks down in production in real time.

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

Leader
Open source
as of verify ↗

Tideways

Subscription

Subscription-based plans from Basic to Pro; free trial available. Pricing scales with project size and transaction throughput. Annual discounts available.

  • Basic-
    • Profiling
    • Monitoring
    • Error Tracking
    • Basic Integrations (Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams)
  • Standard-
    • Profiling
    • Monitoring
    • Error Tracking
    • Advanced Integrations (PagerDuty, OpsGenie, Splunk On-Call, Webhooks)
  • ProContact sales
    • Profiling
    • Monitoring
    • Error Tracking
    • Advanced Integrations
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✓
Tideways✓
Linux
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✗
CLI
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✓
Self-hosted
Apache SkyWalking✓
Tideways✗

Integrations

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

Apache SkyWalking

Leader
33 total
  • Apache APISIX
  • Grafana
  • OpenTelemetry Collector
  • Amazon Bedrock
  • OpenAI
  • WeChat Mini Program
  • Alipay Mini Program
  • Kafka
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • Envoy
  • DeepSeek
  • Claude Sonnet
  • Zipkin
  • OpenTelemetry
  • Prometheus
  • Zabbix
  • Fluentd
  • Flink
  • Kong
  • Apache RocketMQ
  • Apache ActiveMQ
  • Pulsar
  • +9 more
Independently observed

Tideways

7 total
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • PagerDuty
  • OpsGenie
  • Splunk On-Call
  • Email
  • Webhooks
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Apache SkyWalking or Tideways: 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.