whichdb
vs

Atlas vs Grafana Mimir

Atlas: Netflix's in-memory dimensional time-series database for operational metrics, queried with a stack language. Grafana Mimir: Grafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics.

key differences

  • Licensing: Atlas is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); Grafana Mimir is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0).
  • Grafana Mimir is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Atlas (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only Atlas has in-memory.
  • Only Grafana Mimir has ttl / expiry, durable persistence, compression.

choose atlas for

  • +Operational metrics and dashboards for large microservice fleets
  • +Near-real-time alerting on dimensional service metrics
  • +Drill-down on high-cardinality request metrics during incidents

best at · Observability, Time-series

choose grafana-mimir for

  • +Centralised multi-tenant metrics for many clusters
  • +Long-term Prometheus storage on object storage
  • +Platform teams offering metrics-as-a-service internally

best at · Observability, Time-series

AtlasNetflix's in-memory dimensional time-series database for operational metrics, queried with a stack language.
Grafana MimirGrafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics.
overview
Primary model
Time-Series
Time-Series
Also supports
–
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Netflix
Grafana Labs
First release
2014
2022
Latest version
1.8.2 (Feb 27, 2026)
3.2.3 (Oct 22, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
3.0
15.8
Rank
#450
#203
GitHub stars
3.6K
5.3K
Stack Overflow questions
–
10
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
In memory, Distributed
Distributed, Shared storage
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
capabilities
Transactions
—
—
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
—
—
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
—
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
✓
—
Durable persistence
—
✓
Compression
—
✓
Encryption at rest
—
—
Role-based access
—
—
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
✓
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
Atlas Stack Language (ASL)
PromQL
Client languages
Java, Go, C++, Python, Node.js
–
Best for
Observability, Time-series
Observability, Time-series
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Atlas vs Grafana Mimir: FAQ

What is the difference between Atlas and Grafana Mimir?

Atlas: Netflix's in-memory dimensional time-series database for operational metrics, queried with a stack language. Grafana Mimir: Grafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics. Licensing: Atlas is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); Grafana Mimir is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0). Grafana Mimir is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Atlas (≤ 1 PB). Only Atlas has in-memory.

When should I choose Atlas over Grafana Mimir?

Choose Atlas for operational metrics and dashboards for large microservice fleets; near-real-time alerting on dimensional service metrics; and drill-down on high-cardinality request metrics during incidents. Choose Grafana Mimir for centralised multi-tenant metrics for many clusters, long-term Prometheus storage on object storage and platform teams offering metrics-as-a-service internally.

Is Atlas or Grafana Mimir more popular?

Grafana Mimir ranks #203 on the WhichDB Score (15.8/100) and Atlas ranks #450 (3.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Atlas and Grafana Mimir open source?

Yes. Atlas is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. Grafana Mimir is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0.