Cube vs Prometheus

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?
FeatureCubePrometheus
CategoryDashboards & StartpagesMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageRustGo
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, sourcedocker, binary, helm
GitHub stars★ 20,572★ 65,616
First released20192015
ReplacesLooker, AtScaleDatadog

Why pick each one

Choose Cube if…

  • Consistent metrics across tools
  • Strong API surface
Cube details

Choose Prometheus if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Cube or Prometheus better?

Neither is universally better. Prometheus has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Cube and Prometheus free and open-source?

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

Can I run Cube and Prometheus with Docker?

Cube: yes. Prometheus: yes.

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