head to head · open source
Prometheus vs mcp-toolbox
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars, 10,840 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mcp-toolbox has 16,443 stars, 1,727 forks, 292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 302% (66,106 vs 16,443 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; mcp-toolbox is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, mcp-toolbox 11%. mcp-toolbox 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 | mcp-toolbox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 mcp-toolbox if
- You want the mcp-toolbox 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 mcp-toolbox 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 mcp-toolbox
MCP Toolbox for Databases is an open source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, written in Go and licensed under Apache 2.0, that connects AI agents, IDEs, and applications directly to enterprise databases.
read the full mcp-toolbox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or mcp-toolbox more popular?
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars and mcp-toolbox has 16,443. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and mcp-toolbox free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mcp-toolbox under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and mcp-toolbox?
Prometheus is written in Go and mcp-toolbox 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, Prometheus or mcp-toolbox?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,106 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mcp-toolbox if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.