cAdvisor vs Glances
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
cAdvisor
Container resource usage and performance analysis
VS
Glances
Cross-platform system monitoring at a glance
| Feature | cAdvisor | Glances |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,440 | ★ 33,666 |
| First released | 2014 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog |
What are cAdvisor and Glances?
cAdvisor
cAdvisor provides container users with an understanding of the resource usage and performance characteristics of their running containers. It exposes per-container CPU, memory, network, and filesystem metrics.
- Per-container resource metrics
- Live web UI
- Prometheus metrics export
- Auto-discovers containers
Glances
Glances is a cross-platform system monitoring tool that presents a wide range of host metrics in a terminal or web view. It targets administrators wanting a quick overview of a single machine. It is deployed via Docker, pip, or packages.
- Terminal and web monitoring views
- Wide range of metrics
- REST API and exporters
- Cross-platform support
cAdvisor vs Glances: key differences
CAdvisor is written in Go, while Glances is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for cAdvisor versus LGPL-3.0 for Glances. CAdvisor is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Glances. Glances is the more established project (first released 2012), while cAdvisor arrived in 2014.
Why pick each one
Choose cAdvisor if…
- Zero configuration
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Limited historical retention
- Best paired with Prometheus
Choose Glances if…
- Very easy to run
- Lightweight
- Good single-host overview
Watch out for
- Best for one host at a time
- Limited history
Frequently asked questions
Is cAdvisor or Glances better?
Neither is universally better. Glances has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are cAdvisor and Glances free and open-source?
Yes. cAdvisor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Glances under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run cAdvisor and Glances with Docker?
cAdvisor: yes. Glances: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, cAdvisor or Glances?
cAdvisor has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Glances. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.