head to head · open source
Prometheus vs Chroma
Prometheus has 66,133 GitHub stars, 10,846 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Chroma has 29,333 stars, 2,522 forks, 843 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Prometheus leads on adoption by 125% (66,133 vs 29,333 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Chroma is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Chroma 9%. Prometheus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Prometheus | Chroma | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 29K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 2.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Prometheus if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Chroma if
- You want the Chroma feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Chroma fits your workflow better
About Prometheus
Prometheus is an open source monitoring system and time series database, part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation ecosystem. It collects metrics from configured targets at defined intervals, evaluates alerting rules, and visualizes results. Designed for reliability in dynamic environments, it operates without reliance on distributed storage, ensuring each server node functions independently.
read the full Prometheus overview →
About Chroma
Chroma is an open source vector database designed to store, index, and retrieve embeddings for AI applications. It runs as a local Python or JavaScript client or in client server mode, providing a lightweight infrastructure layer for AI search and retrieval workloads. Built in Rust and licensed under Apache 2.0, it targets developers building RAG, agents, and other embedding dependent systems.
read the full Chroma overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or Chroma more popular?
Prometheus has 66,133 GitHub stars and Chroma has 29,333. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and Chroma free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Chroma under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and Chroma?
Prometheus is written in Go and Chroma in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Prometheus or Chroma?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,133 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Chroma if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.