Apache Exporter vs Prometheus

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureApache ExporterPrometheus
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, kubernetesdocker, binary, helm
GitHub stars★ 361★ 65,616
First released20152015
ReplacesDatadog Apache, New Relic ApacheDatadog

Why pick each one

Choose Apache Exporter if…

  • Easy to set up
  • No runtime dependencies
Apache Exporter details

Choose Prometheus if…

  • Powerful query language
  • Reliable and scalable
  • Huge ecosystem
Prometheus details

Frequently asked questions

Is Apache Exporter or Prometheus better?

Neither is universally better. Prometheus has the larger community, while Apache Exporter is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Apache Exporter and Prometheus free and open-source?

Yes. Apache Exporter is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Prometheus under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Apache Exporter and Prometheus with Docker?

Apache Exporter: yes. Prometheus: yes.

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