Grafana Loki vs Netdata

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?
FeatureGrafana LokiNetdata
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmdocker, bare-metal, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 28,687★ 80,075
First released20182013
ReplacesSplunk, Datadog LogsDatadog, New Relic

Why pick each one

Choose Grafana Loki if…

  • Cheap to run compared to full-text indexers
  • Familiar Prometheus-style labels
Grafana Loki details

Choose Netdata if…

  • Instant insight out of the box
  • Beautiful real-time charts
  • Easy install
Netdata details

Frequently asked questions

Is Grafana Loki or Netdata better?

Netdata is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Grafana Loki if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Grafana Loki and Netdata free and open-source?

Yes. Grafana Loki is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Netdata under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Grafana Loki and Netdata with Docker?

Grafana Loki: yes. Netdata: yes.

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