Prometheus vs VictoriaMetrics
metrics — single-node footprint, retention model, PromQL compatibility
| Prometheus | VictoriaMetrics | |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | The CNCF-graduated, pull-based metrics store. Industry default for self-hosted metrics. | Prometheus-compatible TSDB optimized for ingestion rate and storage cost. Single-binary by default, cluster mode for scale. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| GitHub stars (approx) | 56000 | 17000 |
| Categories | metrics | metrics |
| Replaces SaaS | datadog, new-relic | datadog, new-relic |
| Self-host deployment | docker, single binary, kubernetes helm | single binary, docker, kubernetes helm/operator |
| Commercial hosted option | no / self-host only | yes (vendor-run) |
| Repository | https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus | https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics |
| Freshness checked | 2026-04-22 | 2026-05-17 |
When to prefer Prometheus
You want the de-facto standard with the largest ecosystem of exporters, rules, and tutorials, and your storage horizon is weeks not years. Prometheus's TSDB is battle-tested for short-to-medium retention and pull-based scraping fits most Kubernetes shops out of the box.
When to prefer VictoriaMetrics
You want longer retention or higher ingest density on a single node without sharding into Thanos/Cortex/Mimir. VictoriaMetrics has measurably lower disk and RAM usage per active series, supports both push and pull, and ships a cluster mode when you eventually need to scale horizontally.