Graphite vs Monitoror
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Graphite | Monitoror |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 72 · Good | 33 · At risk |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,119 | ★ 4,389 |
| First released | 2008 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog |
What are Graphite and Monitoror?
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
Monitoror
Monitoror is a unified monitoring wallboard that displays the status of CI pipelines, services, and other checks on a single screen. It is designed for office TVs and team information radiators.
- Wallboard-style display
- CI and HTTP monitors
- Single-binary deployment
- Configurable tiles
Graphite vs Monitoror: key differences
Graphite is written in JavaScript, while Monitoror is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Graphite versus MIT for Monitoror. Monitoror is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Graphite. Graphite is the more established project (first released 2008), while Monitoror arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Graphite if…
- Simple metric protocol
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- Dated architecture
- Scaling requires extra components
Choose Monitoror if…
- Great for office TVs
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Limited monitor types
- Less active development
Frequently asked questions
Is Graphite or Monitoror better?
Neither is universally better. Graphite has the larger community, while Monitoror is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Graphite and Monitoror free and open-source?
Yes. Graphite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Monitoror under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Graphite and Monitoror with Docker?
Graphite: yes. Monitoror: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Graphite or Monitoror?
Monitoror has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Graphite. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.