Process Exporter vs Telegraf
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?
Process Exporter
Prometheus exporter for per-process metrics
VS
Telegraf
Plugin-driven server agent for collecting metrics
| Feature | Process Exporter | Telegraf |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,137 | ★ 17,736 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Datadog Agent | Datadog Agent |
Why pick each one
Choose Process Exporter if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Process Exporter or Telegraf better?
Telegraf is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Process Exporter if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Process Exporter and Telegraf free and open-source?
Yes. Process Exporter is licensed under MIT and Telegraf under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Process Exporter and Telegraf with Docker?
Process Exporter: yes. Telegraf: yes.