Hertzbeat vs VictoriaMetrics
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
VictoriaMetrics
Fast, cost-effective time series database and monitoring solution
| Feature | Hertzbeat | VictoriaMetrics |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,405 | ★ 17,760 |
| First released | 2022 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Zabbix, Datadog | Datadog, Grafana Cloud |
What are Hertzbeat and VictoriaMetrics?
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
VictoriaMetrics
VictoriaMetrics is a fast, cost-effective, and scalable monitoring solution and time series database. It is a drop-in replacement for Prometheus storage with lower resource usage and a high-performance query engine.
- Low memory footprint
- MetricsQL query language
- Single-binary or cluster mode
- Prometheus-compatible
Hertzbeat vs VictoriaMetrics: key differences
Hertzbeat is written in Java, while VictoriaMetrics is built with Go. VictoriaMetrics is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. VictoriaMetrics is the more established project (first released 2018), while Hertzbeat arrived in 2022. VictoriaMetrics has the considerably larger community, at 17,760 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 VictoriaMetrics if…
- Excellent compression and speed
- Easy single-binary deployment
Watch out for
- MetricsQL differs slightly from PromQL
- Smaller ecosystem than Prometheus
Frequently asked questions
Is Hertzbeat or VictoriaMetrics better?
Neither is universally better. VictoriaMetrics has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hertzbeat and VictoriaMetrics free and open-source?
Yes. Hertzbeat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and VictoriaMetrics under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hertzbeat and VictoriaMetrics with Docker?
Hertzbeat: yes. VictoriaMetrics: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Hertzbeat or VictoriaMetrics?
VictoriaMetrics has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Hertzbeat. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.