mtail vs Uptime Kuma

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?
FeaturemtailUptime Kuma
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageGoJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM64 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, kubernetesdocker
GitHub stars★ 4,024★ 89,960
First released20152021
ReplacesSplunk, Datadog Log MetricsPingdom, UptimeRobot

Why pick each one

Choose mtail if…

  • Bridges legacy logs to metrics
  • Tiny footprint
mtail details

Choose Uptime Kuma if…

  • Very easy to use
  • Great notifications
  • Lightweight
Uptime Kuma details

Frequently asked questions

Is mtail or Uptime Kuma better?

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

Are mtail and Uptime Kuma free and open-source?

Yes. mtail is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Uptime Kuma under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run mtail and Uptime Kuma with Docker?

mtail: yes. Uptime Kuma: yes.

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