MySQL Server Exporter vs Prometheus

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?
FeatureMySQL Server ExporterPrometheus
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, kubernetesdocker, binary, helm
GitHub stars★ 2,460★ 65,616
First released20152015
ReplacesDatadog MySQL, VividCortexDatadog

Why pick each one

Choose MySQL Server Exporter if…

  • Reliable and well-tested
  • Granular collector toggles
MySQL Server Exporter details

Choose Prometheus if…

  • Powerful query language
  • Reliable and scalable
  • Huge ecosystem
Prometheus details

Frequently asked questions

Is MySQL Server Exporter or Prometheus better?

Neither is universally better. Prometheus has the larger community, while MySQL Server Exporter is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are MySQL Server Exporter and Prometheus free and open-source?

Yes. MySQL Server Exporter is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Prometheus under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MySQL Server Exporter and Prometheus with Docker?

MySQL Server Exporter: yes. Prometheus: yes.

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