Dozzle vs Grafana Loki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Dozzle
Real-time log viewer for Docker containers
VS
Grafana Loki
Log aggregation system inspired by Prometheus
| Feature | Dozzle | Grafana Loki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,465 | ★ 28,937 |
| First released | 2018 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Datadog Logs | Splunk, Datadog Logs |
What are Dozzle and Grafana Loki?
Dozzle
Dozzle is a lightweight, real-time log viewer for Docker containers accessed through the browser. It requires no configuration or database and streams logs live with search and filtering.
- Live container log streaming
- No database or config
- Multi-host support
- Search and filtering
Grafana Loki
Grafana Loki is a horizontally scalable, highly available log aggregation system. Unlike other log systems, it indexes only metadata labels rather than full text, making it cost-effective and simple to operate.
- Label-based log indexing
- LogQL query language
- Tight Grafana integration
- Object storage backend
Dozzle vs Grafana Loki: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Dozzle versus AGPL-3.0 for Grafana Loki. Dozzle is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Grafana Loki. Grafana Loki has the considerably larger community, at 28,937 GitHub stars versus 14,465.
Why pick each one
Choose Dozzle if…
- Zero setup
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- No long-term log storage
- Docker-only
Choose Grafana Loki if…
- Cheap to run compared to full-text indexers
- Familiar Prometheus-style labels
Watch out for
- Limited full-text search
- Requires Grafana for best experience
Frequently asked questions
Is Dozzle or Grafana Loki better?
Neither is universally better. Grafana Loki has the larger community, while Dozzle is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dozzle and Grafana Loki free and open-source?
Yes. Dozzle is licensed under MIT and Grafana Loki under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dozzle and Grafana Loki with Docker?
Dozzle: yes. Grafana Loki: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dozzle or Grafana Loki?
Dozzle has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Grafana Loki. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.