Errbit vs Grafana Faro
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Errbit | Grafana Faro |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,268 | ★ 1,134 |
| First released | 2011 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Airbrake, Sentry | Sentry, LogRocket |
What are Errbit and Grafana Faro?
Errbit
Errbit is a self-hosted error catcher that collects exceptions from applications using the Airbrake API. It groups errors, tracks resolution, and notifies developers through issue trackers and chat.
- Airbrake-compatible error collection
- Error grouping and deduplication
- Issue tracker integration
- Notification rules
Grafana Faro
Grafana Faro is a frontend observability web SDK that captures real-user telemetry, errors, and traces from browser applications. Data is shipped to a self-hosted collector for analysis.
- Real-user monitoring
- Error capture
- Browser traces
- Grafana integration
Errbit vs Grafana Faro: key differences
Errbit is written in Ruby, while Grafana Faro is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Errbit versus Apache-2.0 for Grafana Faro. Grafana Faro is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Errbit. Errbit is the more established project (first released 2011), while Grafana Faro arrived in 2022. Errbit has the considerably larger community, at 4,268 GitHub stars versus 1,134.
Why pick each one
Choose Errbit if…
- Long-established and stable
- Integrates with many trackers
Watch out for
- Airbrake API only
- Requires MongoDB
Choose Grafana Faro if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Errbit or Grafana Faro better?
Neither is universally better. Errbit has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Errbit and Grafana Faro free and open-source?
Yes. Errbit is licensed under MIT and Grafana Faro under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Errbit and Grafana Faro with Docker?
Errbit: yes. Grafana Faro: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Errbit or Grafana Faro?
Grafana Faro has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Errbit. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.