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Grafana Mimir vs VictoriaMetrics

Grafana Mimir: Grafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics. VictoriaMetrics: Resource-frugal, Prometheus-compatible metrics database, run as a single binary or a sharded cluster.

key differences

  • Licensing: Grafana Mimir is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0); VictoriaMetrics is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Grafana Mimir is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than VictoriaMetrics (≤ 1 PB).

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

choose victoriametrics for

  • +Long-term storage for Prometheus metrics
  • +Kubernetes monitoring with vmagent and the operator
  • +Consolidating Graphite, Influx and Prometheus metrics in one store
  • +High-rate IoT telemetry

best at · Observability, Time-series, IoT

Grafana MimirGrafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics.
VictoriaMetricsResource-frugal, Prometheus-compatible metrics database, run as a single binary or a sharded cluster.
overview
Primary model
Time-Series
Time-Series
Also supports
–
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Grafana Labs
VictoriaMetrics Inc.
First release
2022
2018
Latest version
3.2.3 (Oct 22, 2026)
1.155.0 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
15.8
26.8
Rank
#203
#109
GitHub stars
5.3K
17.9K
Stack Overflow questions
10
143
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage
Single node, Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
AWS
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
PromQL
MetricsQL, PromQL
Client languages
–
–
Best for
Observability, Time-series
Observability, Time-series, IoT
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Grafana Mimir vs VictoriaMetrics: FAQ

What is the difference between Grafana Mimir and VictoriaMetrics?

Grafana Mimir: Grafana Labs' horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term store for Prometheus and OTLP metrics. VictoriaMetrics: Resource-frugal, Prometheus-compatible metrics database, run as a single binary or a sharded cluster. Licensing: Grafana Mimir is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0); VictoriaMetrics is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Grafana Mimir is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than VictoriaMetrics (≤ 1 PB).

When should I choose Grafana Mimir over VictoriaMetrics?

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. Choose VictoriaMetrics for long-term storage for Prometheus metrics; kubernetes monitoring with vmagent and the operator; and consolidating Graphite, Influx and Prometheus metrics in one store.

Is Grafana Mimir or VictoriaMetrics more popular?

VictoriaMetrics ranks #109 on the WhichDB Score (26.8/100) and Grafana Mimir ranks #203 (15.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Grafana Mimir and VictoriaMetrics open source?

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