Grafana vs Prometheus
Grafana
Open-source visualization and dashboarding platform supporting 30+ data sources.
Teams needing multi-source observability dashboards, enterprises requiring RBAC and team collaboration, organizations using diverse monitoring backends
VS
Prometheus
Open-source time-series database and monitoring system with built-in alerting.
Short Answer
Prometheus is a time-series database and monitoring system that collects metrics, while Grafana is a visualization and dashboarding platform that displays those metrics. Prometheus excels at data collection and alerting, whereas Grafana specializes in creating rich, interactive dashboards from multiple data sources.
Our Verdict
AI-assistedPrometheus and Grafana serve complementary roles in modern observability stacks. Choose Prometheus if you need robust metric collection, time-series storage, and rule-based alerting with minimal external dependencies. Choose Grafana if you require multi-source data visualization, advanced dashboard customization, and integration with diverse monitoring backends including Prometheus itself.
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Grafana7.5
7.5Prometheus
Choose Grafana if
Teams needing multi-source observability dashboards, enterprises requiring RBAC and team collaboration, organizations using diverse monitoring backends
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Key Differences at a Glance
🔹
Primary Function: Visualization & Dashboarding Platform vs Time-Series Database & Metrics Collection
💾
Data Storage Capacity: Prometheus wins (Built-in TSDB with 15-day default retention vs No native storage (connects to backends))
🔹
Alert Rule Complexity: Prometheus wins (Advanced PromQL-based alerting with templates vs Basic alerts via connected datasources)
Key Facts & Figures
| Metric | Grafana | Prometheus | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supported Data Sources(count) | 70+ | — | — |
| Starting Monthly Cost(USD) | Free (open-source) | — | — |
| Time to First Dashboard(minutes) | 60-120 | — | — |
| Pre-built Integrations(count) | 300+ | — | — |
| Community Size |
Key Differences
Grafana
Attribute
Prometheus
Visualization & Dashboarding Platform
Primary Function
Time-Series Database & Metrics Collection
No native storage (connects to backends)
Data Storage Capacity
Built-in TSDB with 15-day default retention🏆
Basic alerts via connected datasources
Alert Rule Complexity
Advanced PromQL-based alerting with templates🏆
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Last updated: June 12, 2026AI generated
