mtail vs VictoriaLogs
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?
mtail
Extract Prometheus metrics from application log files
VS
VictoriaLogs
Fast and resource-efficient open-source log database
| Feature | mtail | VictoriaLogs |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, kubernetes | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,024 | ★ 2,118 |
| First released | 2015 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Splunk, Datadog Log Metrics | Splunk, Elasticsearch |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is mtail or VictoriaLogs better?
Neither is universally better. mtail has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are mtail and VictoriaLogs free and open-source?
Yes. mtail is licensed under Apache-2.0 and VictoriaLogs under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mtail and VictoriaLogs with Docker?
mtail: yes. VictoriaLogs: yes.