Hertzbeat vs InfluxDB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
InfluxDB
Purpose-built time series database for metrics and events
| Feature | Hertzbeat | InfluxDB |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,405 | ★ 31,754 |
| First released | 2022 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Zabbix, Datadog | Datadog, AWS Timestream |
What are Hertzbeat and InfluxDB?
Hertzbeat
HertzBeat is an open-source real-time monitoring system that checks websites, APIs, databases, servers, and more using customizable YAML templates. It includes alerting and a friendly dashboard with no agents required.
- Agentless monitoring
- Customizable YAML templates
- Threshold alerting
- Built-in dashboards
InfluxDB
InfluxDB is an open-source time series database designed for high write and query loads of metrics, events, and analytics data. It powers monitoring dashboards, IoT data collection, and real-time analytics.
- High-throughput time series storage
- SQL and Flux query support
- Built-in retention policies
- Telegraf collector ecosystem
Hertzbeat vs InfluxDB: key differences
Hertzbeat is written in Java, while InfluxDB is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Hertzbeat versus MIT for InfluxDB. InfluxDB is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. InfluxDB is the more established project (first released 2013), while Hertzbeat arrived in 2022. InfluxDB has the considerably larger community, at 31,754 GitHub stars versus 7,405.
Why pick each one
Choose Hertzbeat if…
- No agents to deploy
- Flexible templates
Watch out for
- JVM resource needs
- Newer project
Choose InfluxDB if…
- Excellent for IoT and metrics
- Rich tooling and integrations
Watch out for
- Clustering reserved for enterprise
- Query language changes between versions
Frequently asked questions
Is Hertzbeat or InfluxDB better?
Neither is universally better. InfluxDB has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hertzbeat and InfluxDB free and open-source?
Yes. Hertzbeat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and InfluxDB under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hertzbeat and InfluxDB with Docker?
Hertzbeat: yes. InfluxDB: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Hertzbeat or InfluxDB?
InfluxDB has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.