Glances vs Graphite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Glances
Cross-platform system monitoring at a glance
VS
Graphite
Scalable real-time graphing and time series storage
| Feature | Glances | Graphite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 72 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33,666 | ★ 6,119 |
| First released | 2012 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog |
What are Glances and Graphite?
Glances
Glances is a cross-platform system monitoring tool that presents a wide range of host metrics in a terminal or web view. It targets administrators wanting a quick overview of a single machine. It is deployed via Docker, pip, or packages.
- Terminal and web monitoring views
- Wide range of metrics
- REST API and exporters
- Cross-platform support
Graphite
Graphite is a monitoring tool that stores numeric time series data and renders graphs of it on demand. It consists of Carbon for metric ingestion, Whisper for storage, and a Django-based web app for visualization.
- Time series storage with Whisper
- On-demand graph rendering
- Plain-text metric protocol
- Widely supported by collectors
Glances vs Graphite: key differences
Glances is written in Python, while Graphite is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for Glances versus Apache-2.0 for Graphite. Glances is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Graphite. Graphite is the more established project (first released 2008), while Glances arrived in 2012. Glances has the considerably larger community, at 33,666 GitHub stars versus 6,119.
Why pick each one
Choose Glances if…
- Very easy to run
- Lightweight
- Good single-host overview
Watch out for
- Best for one host at a time
- Limited history
Choose Graphite if…
- Simple metric protocol
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- Dated architecture
- Scaling requires extra components
Frequently asked questions
Is Glances or Graphite better?
Glances is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Graphite if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Glances and Graphite free and open-source?
Yes. Glances is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Graphite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glances and Graphite with Docker?
Glances: yes. Graphite: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glances or Graphite?
Glances has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Graphite. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.