head to head · open source
Uptime Kuma vs jmx_exporter
Uptime Kuma has 91,498 GitHub stars, 8,431 forks, 805 open issues and last shipped yesterday. jmx_exporter has 3,329 stars, 1,226 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Uptime Kuma leads on adoption by 2,649% (91,498 vs 3,329 stars). Uptime Kuma is written in JavaScript under MIT; jmx_exporter is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Uptime Kuma has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, jmx_exporter 37%. jmx_exporter was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (monitoring), 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
| Uptime Kuma | jmx_exporter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.4K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Uptime Kuma if
- You weight community size — 91K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick jmx_exporter if
- You want the jmx_exporter 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 jmx_exporter fits your workflow better
About Uptime Kuma
Uptime Kuma is a free, MIT licensed, self hosted monitoring tool with a reactive web dashboard, built for operators and teams that want to watch their own HTTP, TCP, and DNS endpoints and keep the resulting data on their own infrastructure.
read the full Uptime Kuma overview →
About jmx_exporter
jmx exporter is a Java collector published under the Prometheus organisation that reads JMX MBean values and turns them into metrics Prometheus can consume, aimed at Java operators and Prometheus users who need visibility into JVM and application internals that are exposed only over JMX.
read the full jmx_exporter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Uptime Kuma or jmx_exporter more popular?
Uptime Kuma has 91,498 GitHub stars and jmx_exporter has 3,329. Uptime Kuma has the larger community by that measure.
Are Uptime Kuma and jmx_exporter free?
Both are open source. Uptime Kuma is licensed under MIT and jmx_exporter under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Uptime Kuma and jmx_exporter?
Uptime Kuma is written in JavaScript and jmx_exporter 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, Uptime Kuma or jmx_exporter?
Choose Uptime Kuma if you want the larger community (91,498 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose jmx_exporter if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.