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Grafana Pyroscope vs OpenObserve

Grafana Pyroscope: Continuous profiling database that stores CPU and memory profiles over time on object storage. OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.

key differences

  • Grafana Pyroscope is primarily a time-series database; OpenObserve is search engine.
  • Only OpenObserve has joins, full-text search, json, role-based access.

choose grafana-pyroscope for

  • +Finding CPU and memory hot spots in production
  • +Comparing performance between releases
  • +Reducing cloud compute cost

best at · Observability

choose openobserve for

  • +Self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement
  • +Kubernetes logs and traces on S3
  • +Small teams needing one observability tool
  • +Front-end RUM and session replay with backend logs

best at · Observability, Search, Time-series

Grafana PyroscopeContinuous profiling database that stores CPU and memory profiles over time on object storage.
OpenObserveSingle-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.
overview
Primary model
Time-Series
Search Engine
Also supports
Columnar / OLAP
Time-Series, Columnar / OLAP
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Grafana Labs
OpenObserve Inc.
First release
2021
2023
Latest version
2.4.2 (Oct 26, 2026)
1.1.2 (Oct 20, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
12.7
20.4
Rank
#263
#156
GitHub stars
11.7K
22.5K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
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
Label selectors (PromQL-style)
SQL, PromQL
Client languages
Go, Java, Python, Ruby, .NET, Rust, JavaScript
–
Best for
Observability
Observability, Search, Time-series
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Grafana Pyroscope vs OpenObserve: FAQ

What is the difference between Grafana Pyroscope and OpenObserve?

Grafana Pyroscope: Continuous profiling database that stores CPU and memory profiles over time on object storage. OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage. Grafana Pyroscope is primarily a time-series database; OpenObserve is search engine. Only OpenObserve has joins, full-text search, json, role-based access.

When should I choose Grafana Pyroscope over OpenObserve?

Choose Grafana Pyroscope for finding CPU and memory hot spots in production; comparing performance between releases; and reducing cloud compute cost. Choose OpenObserve for self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement; kubernetes logs and traces on S3; and small teams needing one observability tool.

Is Grafana Pyroscope or OpenObserve more popular?

OpenObserve ranks #156 on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100) and Grafana Pyroscope ranks #263 (12.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Grafana Pyroscope and OpenObserve open source?

Yes. Grafana Pyroscope is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0. Yes. OpenObserve is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial.