head to head · open source
Prometheus vs OceanBase
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars, 10,840 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OceanBase has 10,280 stars, 1,919 forks, 599 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 543% (66,106 vs 10,280 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; OceanBase is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, OceanBase 19%. Prometheus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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
| Prometheus | OceanBase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 OceanBase if
- You want the OceanBase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and OceanBase 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 OceanBase
OceanBase is an open source distributed relational database written in C++ and licensed under Apache 2.0. It is developed by Ant Group and built on a common server cluster, using the Paxos protocol and a distributed structure to provide high availability and linear scalability. The project belongs to the MySQL compatible distributed database ecosystem, and its README presents it as a unified engine for demanding workloads.
read the full OceanBase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or OceanBase more popular?
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars and OceanBase has 10,280. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and OceanBase free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OceanBase under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and OceanBase?
Prometheus is written in Go and OceanBase in C++. 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 OceanBase?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,106 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OceanBase if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.