cAdvisor vs Hertzbeat
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
Hertzbeat
Real-time monitoring system with customizable templates
| Feature | cAdvisor | Hertzbeat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,440 | ★ 7,405 |
| First released | 2014 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Zabbix, Datadog |
What are cAdvisor and Hertzbeat?
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
Hertzbeat
HertzBeat is an open-source real-time monitoring system that checks websites, APIs, databases, servers, and more using customizable YAML templates. It includes alerting and a friendly dashboard with no agents required.
- Agentless monitoring
- Customizable YAML templates
- Threshold alerting
- Built-in dashboards
cAdvisor vs Hertzbeat: key differences
CAdvisor is written in Go, while Hertzbeat is built with Java. CAdvisor is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. CAdvisor is the more established project (first released 2014), while Hertzbeat arrived in 2022. CAdvisor has the considerably larger community, at 19,440 GitHub stars versus 7,405.
Why pick each one
Choose cAdvisor if…
- Zero configuration
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Limited historical retention
- Best paired with Prometheus
Choose Hertzbeat if…
- No agents to deploy
- Flexible templates
Watch out for
- JVM resource needs
- Newer project
Frequently asked questions
Is cAdvisor or Hertzbeat better?
cAdvisor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Hertzbeat if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are cAdvisor and Hertzbeat free and open-source?
Yes. cAdvisor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Hertzbeat under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run cAdvisor and Hertzbeat with Docker?
cAdvisor: yes. Hertzbeat: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, cAdvisor or Hertzbeat?
cAdvisor has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.