Glances vs Prometheus
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
Prometheus
Metrics-based monitoring and alerting toolkit
| Feature | Glances | Prometheus |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, binary, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33,666 | ★ 66,196 |
| First released | 2012 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog |
What are Glances and Prometheus?
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
Prometheus
Prometheus is a metrics-based monitoring system and time-series database with a powerful query language and alerting. It targets engineers monitoring cloud-native infrastructure. It is deployed via Docker, binaries, or Helm.
- Pull-based metrics collection
- PromQL query language
- Built-in alerting rules
- Cloud-native standard
Glances vs Prometheus: key differences
Glances is written in Python, while Prometheus is built with Go. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for Glances versus Apache-2.0 for Prometheus. Glances is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Prometheus. Glances is the more established project (first released 2012), while Prometheus arrived in 2015.
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 Prometheus if…
- Powerful query language
- Reliable and scalable
- Huge ecosystem
Watch out for
- No long-term storage by default
- Dashboards need Grafana
Frequently asked questions
Is Glances or Prometheus better?
Neither is universally better. Prometheus has the larger community, while Glances is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Glances and Prometheus free and open-source?
Yes. Glances is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Prometheus under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glances and Prometheus with Docker?
Glances: yes. Prometheus: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glances or Prometheus?
Glances has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Prometheus. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.