head to head · open source
Prometheus vs VictoriaMetrics
Prometheus has 66,906 GitHub stars, 10,969 forks, 890 open issues and last shipped yesterday. VictoriaMetrics has 18,000 stars, 1,795 forks, 800 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prometheus leads on adoption by 272% (66,906 vs 18,000 stars). Prometheus is written in Go under Apache-2.0; VictoriaMetrics is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Prometheus has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, VictoriaMetrics 10%. Prometheus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (metrics, monitoring, prometheus), 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 | VictoriaMetrics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 18K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Prometheus if
- You weight community size — 67K 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 VictoriaMetrics if
- You want the VictoriaMetrics 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 VictoriaMetrics fits your workflow better
About Prometheus
Prometheus Visit prometheus.io for the full documentation, examples and guides. [ ][quay] [ ][hub] Prometheus, a Cloud Native Computing Foundation project, is a systems and service monitoring system. It collects metrics from configured targets at given intervals, evaluates rule expressions, displays the results, and can trigger alerts when specified conditions are observed. The features that distinguish Prometheus from other metrics and monitoring systems are: A multi dimensional data model (time series defined by metric name and set of key/value dimensions) PromQL, a powerful and flexible query language to…
read the full Prometheus overview →
About VictoriaMetrics
VictoriaMetrics VictoriaMetrics is a fast, cost effective, and scalable solution for monitoring and managing time series data. It delivers high performance and reliability, making it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes. Here are some resources and information about VictoriaMetrics: Case studies : Grammarly, Roblox, Wix, Spotify,.... Available : Binary releases, Docker images on Docker Hub and Quay, Source code. Deployment types : Single node version and Cluster version under Apache License 2.0. Getting started: Read key concepts and follow the quick start guide. Community : Slack (join via Slack…
read the full VictoriaMetrics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prometheus or VictoriaMetrics more popular?
Prometheus has 66,906 GitHub stars and VictoriaMetrics has 18,000. Prometheus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prometheus and VictoriaMetrics free?
Both are open source. Prometheus is licensed under Apache-2.0 and VictoriaMetrics under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prometheus and VictoriaMetrics?
Prometheus is written in Go and VictoriaMetrics 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 VictoriaMetrics?
Choose Prometheus if you want the larger community (66,906 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose VictoriaMetrics if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.