Uptrace vs VictoriaMetrics
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
VictoriaMetrics
Fast, cost-effective time series database and monitoring solution
| Feature | Uptrace | VictoriaMetrics |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | BSL-1.1 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,290 | ★ 17,760 |
| First released | 2021 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Datadog, New Relic | Datadog, Grafana Cloud |
What are Uptrace and VictoriaMetrics?
Uptrace
Uptrace is an open-source observability tool that uses OpenTelemetry to collect distributed traces, metrics, and logs. It stores data in ClickHouse and provides a clean UI for analyzing application performance.
- Distributed tracing
- Metrics and logs support
- ClickHouse storage
- OpenTelemetry-native
VictoriaMetrics
VictoriaMetrics is a fast, cost-effective, and scalable monitoring solution and time series database. It is a drop-in replacement for Prometheus storage with lower resource usage and a high-performance query engine.
- Low memory footprint
- MetricsQL query language
- Single-binary or cluster mode
- Prometheus-compatible
Uptrace vs VictoriaMetrics: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — BSL-1.1 for Uptrace versus Apache-2.0 for VictoriaMetrics. VictoriaMetrics is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Uptrace. VictoriaMetrics is the more established project (first released 2018), while Uptrace arrived in 2021. VictoriaMetrics has the considerably larger community, at 17,760 GitHub stars versus 4,290.
Why pick each one
Choose Uptrace if…
- Efficient ClickHouse backend
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- BSL license restrictions
- Smaller community
Choose VictoriaMetrics if…
- Excellent compression and speed
- Easy single-binary deployment
Watch out for
- MetricsQL differs slightly from PromQL
- Smaller ecosystem than Prometheus
Frequently asked questions
Is Uptrace or VictoriaMetrics better?
Neither is universally better. VictoriaMetrics has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Uptrace and VictoriaMetrics free and open-source?
Yes. Uptrace is licensed under BSL-1.1 and VictoriaMetrics under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Uptrace and VictoriaMetrics with Docker?
Uptrace: yes. VictoriaMetrics: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Uptrace or VictoriaMetrics?
VictoriaMetrics has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Uptrace. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.