head to head · open source
Prometheus vs Apache Druid
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars, 10,840 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Apache Druid has 14,054 stars, 3,789 forks, 784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 370% (66,106 vs 14,054 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Apache Druid is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Apache Druid 27%. 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 | Apache Druid | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| 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 Apache Druid if
- You want the Apache Druid feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Apache Druid 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 Apache Druid
Apache Druid is a high performance, open source real time analytics database written in Java and licensed under Apache 2.0, built for teams that need sub second OLAP queries and fast ingest for UIs, operational queries, and high concurrency workloads.
read the full Apache Druid overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or Apache Druid more popular?
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars and Apache Druid has 14,054. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and Apache Druid free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Apache Druid under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and Apache Druid?
Prometheus is written in Go and Apache Druid in Java. 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 Apache Druid?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,106 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Apache Druid if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.