Grafonnet Dashboards vs Sampler Dashboard
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Grafonnet Dashboards | Sampler Dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 71 · Good | 26 · At risk |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Jsonnet | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 554 | ★ 14,805 |
| First released | 2018 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Grafana | Grafana |
What are Grafonnet Dashboards and Sampler Dashboard?
Grafonnet Dashboards
Grafonnet is a Jsonnet library for programmatically generating Grafana dashboards as code, enabling version control and reuse. It lets teams treat dashboards as maintainable, templated artifacts.
- Dashboards as code
- Reusable components
- Version-controlled panels
- Templated generation
Sampler Dashboard
Sampler is a tool for building live terminal dashboards from the output of shell commands, displaying it as charts, gauges, and counters. It is configured with a simple YAML file for quick operational views.
- Terminal-based charts
- Shell command data sources
- YAML configuration
- Gauges and counters
Grafonnet Dashboards vs Sampler Dashboard: key differences
Grafonnet Dashboards is written in Jsonnet, while Sampler Dashboard is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Grafonnet Dashboards versus GPL-3.0 for Sampler Dashboard. Sampler Dashboard has the considerably larger community, at 14,805 GitHub stars versus 554.
Why pick each one
Choose Grafonnet Dashboards if…
- Consistent dashboards
- Easy to review changes
Watch out for
- Requires Jsonnet knowledge
- Not an end-user tool
Choose Sampler Dashboard if…
- Runs in a terminal
- No web stack needed
Watch out for
- Limited to terminal display
- Not for shared use
Frequently asked questions
Is Grafonnet Dashboards or Sampler Dashboard better?
Sampler Dashboard is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Grafonnet Dashboards if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Grafonnet Dashboards and Sampler Dashboard free and open-source?
Yes. Grafonnet Dashboards is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Sampler Dashboard under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Grafonnet Dashboards and Sampler Dashboard with Docker?
Grafonnet Dashboards: check the project docs for container support. Sampler Dashboard: check the project docs for container support.