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Best metrics and time-series tools in 2026

Collect, store and query numeric time series, and evaluate alert rules against them. This list has the top 5 of 11 metrics and time-series tools, ranked by a published score. Of these, 5 are open source, 5 have a free plan and 5 can be self-hosted. Checked by hand on 30 September 2026.

How this list is ranked

Each active tool gets a score out of 100. Archived, end-of-sale and maintenance-only tools are left out.

  • Capabilities: up to 75 points for the share of the category checklist that the tool's own documentation confirms. A tool meeting 8 of 10 items gets 60.
  • Free to start: 15 points for a free plan or a free edition.
  • Open or self-hostable: 10 points if it is open source or can be self-hosted.

Each category has a fixed checklist of capabilities (shown in the table below and on every tool page). An item counts only when the tool's own documentation confirms it; anything we could not confirm counts as not met. How long a tool has existed is deliberately not scored, so a new tool is not ranked below an older one for being new. Tools with the same score share a rank (shown as =), are listed A to Z within it, and the list never cuts between them. Nobody pays for a position.

  1. 1

    VictoriaMetrics

    Prometheus-compatible time-series database and monitoring stack in single-node and cluster versions, with enterprise and managed cloud editions.

    Free plan Open source (Apache-2.0) Self-hosted Metrics
    100 10 of 10 capabilities (75), free 15, open 10
  2. 2

    Thanos

    Adds a global query view, high availability and long-term object-storage retention to existing Prometheus servers; a CNCF project.

    Free Open source (Apache-2.0) Self-hosted Metrics
    93 9 of 10 capabilities (68), free 15, open 10
  3. =3

    Grafana Mimir

    Horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term storage for Prometheus metrics from Grafana Labs, backed by object storage.

    Free plan Open source (AGPL-3.0) Self-hosted Metrics
    85 8 of 10 capabilities (60), free 15, open 10
  4. =3

    InfluxDB

    Time-series database for metrics and events; InfluxDB 3 Core is open source, with Enterprise and managed cloud editions.

    Free plan Open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0) Self-hosted Metrics
    85 8 of 10 capabilities (60), free 15, open 10
  5. 5

    Cortex

    Horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term storage for Prometheus metrics; a CNCF project.

    Free Open source (Apache-2.0) Self-hosted Metrics
    78 7 of 10 capabilities (53), free 15, open 10

Side by side

Tool Pricing Free plan Open source Self-hosted PromQL or compatible queriesPrometheus remote writeOTLP metrics ingestLong-term storageClustering or high availabilityDownsamplingAlert rule evaluationMulti-tenancyBuilt-in query UIManaged hosted service
VictoriaMetrics Free plan Yes Yes Yes YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Thanos Free Yes Yes Yes YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNo
Grafana Mimir Free plan Yes Yes Yes YesYesYesYesYes-YesYesNoYes
InfluxDB Free plan Yes Yes Yes NoYes-YesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Cortex Free Yes Yes Yes YesYesYesYesYes-YesYesNoNo

Yes: confirmed in the tool's documentation. No: documented as not offered. -: not confirmed. Plans and prices change; check each tool's own site before you decide.

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