head to head · open source
NetData vs grafana-operator
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. grafana-operator has 1,392 stars, 475 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NetData leads on adoption by 5,737% (81,255 vs 1,392 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; grafana-operator is written in Go under Apache-2.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, grafana-operator 34%. NetData was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (grafana, kubernetes), 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
| NetData | grafana-operator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 475 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NetData if
- You weight community size — 81K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick grafana-operator if
- You want the grafana-operator feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and grafana-operator fits your workflow better
About NetData
X Ray Vision for your infrastructure! Every Metric, Every Second. No BS. Visit our Home Page MENU: WHO WE ARE KEY FEATURES GETTING STARTED HOW IT WORKS FAQ DOCS COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTE LICENSE [!WARNING] People get addicted to Netdata. Once you use it on your systems, there's no going back. WHO WE ARE Netdata is an open source, real time infrastructure monitoring platform. Monitor, detect, and act across your entire infrastructure. Core Advantages: Instant Insights – With Netdata you can access per second metrics and visualizations. Zero Configuration – You can deploy immediately without complex setup. ML Powered –…
read the full NetData overview →
About grafana-operator
Grafana Operator Official Documentation Quickstart Installation Tutorials The Grafana Operator is a Kubernetes operator built to help you manage your Grafana instances and its resources in and outside of Kubernetes. Whether you’re running one Grafana instance or many, the Grafana Operator simplifies the processes of installing, configuring, and maintaining Grafana and its resources. Additionally, it's perfect for those who prefer to manage resources using infrastructure as code or using GitOps workflows through tools like ArgoCD and Flux CD. Getting Started Installation Option 1: Helm Chart Deploy the Grafana…
read the full grafana-operator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or grafana-operator more popular?
NetData has 81,255 GitHub stars and grafana-operator has 1,392. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and grafana-operator free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and grafana-operator under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and grafana-operator?
NetData is written in Go and grafana-operator in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, NetData or grafana-operator?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (81,255 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose grafana-operator if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.