M3DB vs Prometheus
M3DB: Uber-born distributed TSDB and aggregator for Prometheus-scale metrics with tunable replication. Prometheus: CNCF-graduated pull-based monitoring system with a local TSDB, PromQL and alerting rules.
key differences
- M3DB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Prometheus (≤ 100 GB).
- Horizontal scaling is native in M3DB and manual in Prometheus.
choose m3db for
- +Very large Prometheus remote-write backends
- +Migrating Graphite at scale to PromQL
- +Multi-resolution metrics retention
best at · Observability, Time-series
choose prometheus for
- +Kubernetes and microservice monitoring
- +SLO and symptom-based alerting
- +Host and infrastructure metrics via exporters
- +Short-term metrics store feeding a long-term backend via remote write
best at · Observability, Time-series
M3DB vs Prometheus: FAQ
What is the difference between M3DB and Prometheus?
M3DB: Uber-born distributed TSDB and aggregator for Prometheus-scale metrics with tunable replication. Prometheus: CNCF-graduated pull-based monitoring system with a local TSDB, PromQL and alerting rules. M3DB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Prometheus (≤ 100 GB). Horizontal scaling is native in M3DB and manual in Prometheus.
When should I choose M3DB over Prometheus?
Choose M3DB for very large Prometheus remote-write backends, migrating Graphite at scale to PromQL and multi-resolution metrics retention. Choose Prometheus for kubernetes and microservice monitoring; SLO and symptom-based alerting; and host and infrastructure metrics via exporters.
Is M3DB or Prometheus more popular?
Prometheus ranks #9 on the WhichDB Score (70.8/100) and M3DB ranks #416 (4.2/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.
Are M3DB and Prometheus open source?
Yes. M3DB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. Prometheus is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.