head to head · open source
Prometheus vs SlateDB
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars, 10,840 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SlateDB has 3,414 stars, 298 forks, 184 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 1,836% (66,106 vs 3,414 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; SlateDB is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, SlateDB 9%. SlateDB 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 | SlateDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 298 |
| 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 SlateDB if
- You want the SlateDB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and SlateDB 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 SlateDB
SlateDB is an embedded storage engine written in Rust and distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. It is built as a log structured merge tree, and it stores data in object storage rather than on a local disk or dedicated server. The project lives in the Rust and cloud native storage ecosystem, and it exposes a key value interface through a Rust crate.
read the full SlateDB overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or SlateDB more popular?
Prometheus has 66,106 GitHub stars and SlateDB has 3,414. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and SlateDB free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SlateDB under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and SlateDB?
Prometheus is written in Go and SlateDB in Rust. 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 SlateDB?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,106 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose SlateDB if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.