Highlight

A full-stack monitoring platform for session replay, error tracking, logs and traces, open source with a hosted cloud.

9.4k stars, 704 forks TypeScript On GitHub since August 2020

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Highlight?

Highlight connects what users see with what your backend does. Session replay shows user actions, error monitoring groups exceptions from front end and back end, and logs and traces tie them to the same session, so you can follow a bug from click to server. SDKs cover popular web and backend frameworks, and you can use the hosted app or self-host a hobby instance.

Good fit if

  • You want replays, errors, logs and traces in one tool for a web app.
  • You want to link a user's session directly to the backend trace behind it.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want an actively developed project: Highlight had only seven commits in the last 90 days. OpenReplay and PostHog are busier.
  • You need privacy-friendly website stats rather than monitoring: Plausible.

Before you adopt it

Highlight is Apache-2.0, except the enterprise directories, which have their own license for paid features. Activity has dropped sharply, so check the project's status before you rely on it.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Highlight health: is it still maintained?

25 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    7 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 23 October 2026.
    11 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the 7 commits of the last 90 days; the most active wrote 71% of them.
    6 / 20
  • Releases
    0 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, docker-v0.5.6, on 8 August 2025.
    1 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 0% of recent issues.
    0 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 6.5 of 10.
    7 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Highlight license: is it open source?

Highlight uses Apache-2.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI. Some features sit under a separate paid license inside the same repository.

  1. August 2020First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0, with paid parts: license file assigns a different licence to part of the code; directory backend/enterprise/; directory enterprise/; separate license enterprise/LICENSE.

How to run Highlight yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker/compose.yml: 7 services (kafka, redis, postgres, clickhouse)
Setup effort
5 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: app.highlight.io or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Highlight

  • PostHogPostHog is the leading platform for building self-driving products. Our developer tools – AI observability,… 80 health · MIT · 40.6k stars
  • OpenReplaySession replay, cobrowsing and product analytics you can self-host. Best for reproducing issues and… 76 health · AGPL-3.0 · 13.1k stars
  • OpenPanelOpenPanel is an open-source web and product analytics platform, an open-source alternative to Mixpanel with… 72 health · AGPL-3.0 · 7.2k stars
  • PlausibleOpen source, privacy-first web analytics. Lightweight, cookie-free Google Analytics alternative. Self-hosted… 65 health · AGPL-3.0 · 29.7k stars
  • JitsuJitsu is an open-source Segment alternative. Fully-scriptable data ingestion engine for modern data teams.… 65 health · MIT · 5.1k stars

All 24 projects in Web analytics

Questions about Highlight

Is Highlight open source?

Yes. Highlight is published under Apache-2.0, an OSI-approved open-source license. Some features are kept under a separate paid license in the same repository.

Is Highlight still maintained?

Its health score is 25 of 100 (actively developed). It had 7 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 23 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 8 August 2025.

How do I run Highlight?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Highlight?

Close alternatives in the Web analytics category include PostHog, OpenReplay, OpenPanel.