head to head · open source
Prometheus vs QuestDB
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars, 10,840 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. QuestDB has 17,326 stars, 1,647 forks, 952 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 282% (66,106 vs 17,326 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; QuestDB is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, QuestDB 10%. QuestDB 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 | QuestDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 QuestDB if
- You want the QuestDB 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 QuestDB 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 QuestDB
QuestDB open source time series database. Java, Apache 2.0, category Infrastructure & Operations / Databases. Lives in open source database ecosystem for massive data scale, low latency, real time analytics.
read the full QuestDB overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or QuestDB more popular?
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars and QuestDB has 17,326. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and QuestDB free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and QuestDB under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and QuestDB?
Prometheus is written in Go and QuestDB 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 QuestDB?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,106 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose QuestDB if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.