head to head · open source
Grafana vs client_python
Grafana has 76,792 GitHub stars, 14,752 forks, 3,326 open issues and last shipped today. client_python has 4,375 stars, 876 forks, 150 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Grafana leads on adoption by 1,655% (76,792 vs 4,375 stars). Grafana is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; client_python is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Grafana has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, client_python 20%. Grafana was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (metrics), 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 | client_python | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 876 |
| 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 client_python if
- You want the client_python 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 client_python 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 client_python
client python is the official Prometheus instrumentation library for Python applications, letting Python code expose metrics that a Prometheus server collects, and it is aimed at Python developers and reliability engineers who need their services measurable inside a Prometheus monitoring stack.
read the full client_python overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Grafana or client_python more popular?
Grafana has 76,792 GitHub stars and client_python has 4,375. Grafana has the larger community by that measure.
Are Grafana and client_python free?
Both are open source. Grafana is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and client_python under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Grafana and client_python?
Grafana is written in TypeScript and client_python 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 client_python?
Choose Grafana if you want the larger community (76,792 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose client_python if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.