Cortex vs SigNoz
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cortex
Horizontally scalable, multi-tenant Prometheus as a service
VS
SigNoz
Open-source APM and observability platform
| Feature | Cortex | SigNoz |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,844 | ★ 31,790 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Datadog, Grafana Cloud | Datadog, New Relic |
Why pick each one
Choose SigNoz if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 31.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Cortex or SigNoz better?
SigNoz is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Cortex if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cortex and SigNoz free and open-source?
Yes. Cortex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SigNoz under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cortex and SigNoz with Docker?
Cortex: yes. SigNoz: yes.