Beszel vs mtail

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?
FeatureBeszelmtail
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 24,108★ 4,024
First released20242015
ReplacesUptimeRobotSplunk, Datadog Log Metrics

Why pick each one

Choose Beszel if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Simple multi-host view
  • Easy setup
Beszel details

Choose mtail if…

  • Bridges legacy logs to metrics
  • Tiny footprint
mtail details

Frequently asked questions

Is Beszel or mtail better?

Beszel is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider mtail if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Beszel and mtail free and open-source?

Yes. Beszel is licensed under MIT and mtail under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Beszel and mtail with Docker?

Beszel: yes. mtail: yes.

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