head to head · open source
Prometheus vs mdserver-web
Prometheus has 66,109 GitHub stars, 10,839 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mdserver-web has 4,520 stars, 717 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Prometheus leads on adoption by 1,363% (66,109 vs 4,520 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; mdserver-web is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, mdserver-web 16%. 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 | mdserver-web | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 717 |
| 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 mdserver-web if
- You want the mdserver-web 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 mdserver-web 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 mdserver-web
mdserver web is a simple, Apache 2.0 licensed Linux server control panel written in Python that gives administrators a browser based way to manage websites, databases and the software stack behind them.
read the full mdserver-web overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or mdserver-web more popular?
Prometheus has 66,109 GitHub stars and mdserver-web has 4,520. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and mdserver-web free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mdserver-web under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and mdserver-web?
Prometheus is written in Go and mdserver-web 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, Prometheus or mdserver-web?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,109 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mdserver-web if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.