Open source metrics and time-series tools in 2026
Collect, store and query numeric time series, and evaluate alert rules against them. This list has 9 metrics and time-series tools. Of these, 9 are open source, 9 have a free plan and 9 can be self-hosted. Checked by hand on 30 September 2026.
- 1
Cortex
Horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term storage for Prometheus metrics; a CNCF project.
- 2
Grafana Mimir
Horizontally scalable, multi-tenant long-term storage for Prometheus metrics from Grafana Labs, backed by object storage.
- 3
Graphite
Time-series metrics storage and graphing: Carbon receives metrics, Whisper stores them, and Graphite-web renders graphs and serves a query API.
- 4
InfluxDB
Time-series database for metrics and events; InfluxDB 3 Core is open source, with Enterprise and managed cloud editions.
- 5
Nightingale
Open source alerting and dashboard platform that sits on Prometheus, VictoriaMetrics, Elasticsearch and other sources, with alert rules and notification routing.
- 6
Prometheus
CNCF metrics system that scrapes time series from exporters and apps, stores them locally, and evaluates PromQL alert rules that it sends to Alertmanager.
- 7
Telegraf
InfluxData's plugin-based agent that collects metrics and events from systems, services and APIs and writes them to InfluxDB, Prometheus and many other outputs.
- 8
Thanos
Adds a global query view, high availability and long-term object-storage retention to existing Prometheus servers; a CNCF project.
- 9
VictoriaMetrics
Prometheus-compatible time-series database and monitoring stack in single-node and cluster versions, with enterprise and managed cloud editions.
Side by side
| Tool | Pricing | Free plan | Open source | Self-hosted | PromQL or compatible queries | Prometheus remote write | OTLP metrics ingest | Long-term storage | Clustering or high availability | Downsampling | Alert rule evaluation | Multi-tenancy | Built-in query UI | Managed hosted service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortex | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Grafana Mimir | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Graphite | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | - | - | Yes | - | Yes | No | - | Yes | No |
| InfluxDB | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nightingale | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | Yes | - | Yes | - |
| Prometheus | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Telegraf | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | - | No | No | No | No | No |
| Thanos | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| VictoriaMetrics | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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.
More lists
- Metrics and time-series tools in 2026 11
- Best metrics and time-series tools in 2026 5
- Metrics and time-series tools with a free plan in 2026 10
- Self-hosted metrics and time-series tools in 2026 9
- Open source observability tools in 2026 71
- Open source observability platforms in 2026 7
- Open source log management tools in 2026 13
- Open source tracing and APM tools in 2026 8
- Open source continuous profiling tools in 2026 8
- Open source real user monitoring and session replay tools in 2026 5
- Open source OpenTelemetry and telemetry pipeline tools in 2026 14
- Open source dashboard tools in 2026 7
- Open source LLM observability tools in 2026 11