Graphite vs Grafana Mimir
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Graphite
Scalable real-time graphing and time series storage
VS
Grafana Mimir
Scalable long-term storage for Prometheus metrics
| Feature | Graphite | Grafana Mimir |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,102 | ★ 5,201 |
| First released | 2008 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog, Chronosphere |
Why pick each one
Choose Grafana Mimir if…
- Proven at billion-series scale
- Easier to operate than Cortex
Frequently asked questions
Is Graphite or Grafana Mimir better?
Graphite is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Grafana Mimir if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Graphite and Grafana Mimir free and open-source?
Yes. Graphite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Grafana Mimir under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Graphite and Grafana Mimir with Docker?
Graphite: yes. Grafana Mimir: yes.