SigNoz vs Thanos
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
SigNoz
Open-source APM and observability platform
VS
Thanos
Highly available Prometheus setup with long-term storage
| Feature | SigNoz | Thanos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 31,790 | ★ 14,167 |
| First released | 2021 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Datadog, New Relic | Datadog, Grafana Cloud |
Why pick each one
Choose SigNoz if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 31.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is SigNoz or Thanos better?
SigNoz is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Thanos if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are SigNoz and Thanos free and open-source?
Yes. SigNoz is licensed under MIT and Thanos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SigNoz and Thanos with Docker?
SigNoz: yes. Thanos: yes.