head to head · open source
Grafana vs Apache Superset
Grafana has 76,792 GitHub stars, 14,752 forks, 3,326 open issues and last shipped today. Apache Superset has 74,821 stars, 18,339 forks, 588 open issues and last shipped today. Grafana leads on adoption by 3% (76,792 vs 74,821 stars). Grafana is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Apache Superset is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Grafana has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, Apache Superset 25%. Grafana was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (analytics, business-intelligence, data-visualization), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Grafana | Apache Superset | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 75K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 18K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Grafana if
- You weight community size — 77K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Apache Superset if
- You want the Apache Superset feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Apache Superset fits your workflow better
About Grafana
Grafana is an open source observability platform for visualizing metrics, logs, and traces across diverse data sources. It runs in the infrastructure and operations ecosystem, designed for teams needing unified visibility into system behavior without vendor lock in. Built with TypeScript and Go, it provides a composable architecture that integrates with existing toolchains.
read the full Grafana overview →
About Apache Superset
Apache Superset is an open source business intelligence platform that enables self serve data exploration and dashboard creation. It runs as a web application and provides tools for analysts and business users to visualize and analyze data without writing complex code, while also offering advanced capabilities for data engineers and developers. Superset lives in the Apache Software Foundation ecosystem and is licensed under Apache 2.0.
read the full Apache Superset overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Grafana or Apache Superset more popular?
Grafana has 76,792 GitHub stars and Apache Superset has 74,821. Grafana has the larger community by that measure.
Are Grafana and Apache Superset free?
Both are open source. Grafana is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Apache Superset under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Grafana and Apache Superset?
Grafana is written in TypeScript and Apache Superset in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Grafana or Apache Superset?
Choose Grafana if you want the larger community (76,792 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Apache Superset if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.