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10 top picks · 3 audience rankings

Best open source monitoring tools

The best open source monitoring tool is Uptime Kuma (MIT, 93,018 GitHub stars, Docker image). Netdata is the runner-up, and Grafana stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (11,934).

This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Uptime Kuma leads for startups, small business, enterprise and solo developers.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Uptime Kuma

    louislam/uptime-kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Monitoring & Status PagesJavaScriptDocker

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot.

  2. Rank 2:

    Netdata

    netdata/netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Monitoring & Status PagesGoDocker

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom.

  3. Rank 3:

    Grafana

    grafana/grafana

    Dashboards and visualization for metrics, logs and traces from Prometheus, Loki and dozens of other sources.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Monitoring & Status PagesTypeScriptDocker

    Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (11,934). Grafana has 77,561 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 11,934 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud.

At a glance

Open source monitoring tools compared

Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 20 apps in the monitoring & status pages category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

Top 10 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
AppStands out forLicenseGitHub starsCommits (12 mo)Last commitDocker image
Uptime Kumathe most GitHub starsMIT93,0181,361Oct 28, 2026Yes
Netdata–GPL-3.081,1992,752Oct 28, 2026Yes
Grafanathe most commits in the last 12 months (11,934)AGPL-3.077,56111,934Oct 28, 2026Yes
Prometheusa permissive Apache-2.0 licenseApache-2.066,8252,795Oct 28, 2026Yes
Glancesits Python codebaseLGPL-3.033,8671,445Oct 26, 2026Yes
SigNoz–MIT32,4732,015Oct 28, 2026Yes
Grafana Loki–AGPL-3.029,0843,377Oct 28, 2026Yes
Beszel–MIT26,609717Oct 25, 2026Yes
Jaeger–Apache-2.023,3481,066Oct 28, 2026Yes
OpenObserve–AGPL-3.022,5403,686Oct 28, 2026Yes

1 of 4 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 20 apps in the monitoring & status pages category.

  1. 1

    Uptime Kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot.

  2. 2

    Netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom.

  3. 3

    Grafana

    Dashboards and visualization for metrics, logs and traces from Prometheus, Loki and dozens of other sources.

    Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (11,934). Grafana has 77,561 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 11,934 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud.

  4. 4

    Prometheus

    Metrics-based monitoring and alerting toolkit with a powerful query language, built for cloud-native systems.

    Stands out for a permissive Apache-2.0 license. Prometheus has 66,825 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,795 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud.

  5. 5

    Glances

    Cross-platform system monitoring tool with a terminal, web and API interface.

    Stands out for its Python codebase. Glances has 33,867 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year.

  6. 6

    SigNoz

    Open-source observability platform for logs, metrics and traces built on OpenTelemetry.

    SigNoz has 32,473 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,015 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud.

  7. 7

    Grafana Loki

    Horizontally scalable log aggregation system inspired by Prometheus.

    Grafana Loki has 29,084 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,377 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    Beszel

    Lightweight server monitoring hub with Docker stats, history and alerts.

    Beszel has 26,609 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 717 commits in the last year.

  9. 9

    Jaeger

    Distributed tracing platform for monitoring and troubleshooting microservices.

    Jaeger has 23,348 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,066 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    OpenObserve

    Petabyte-scale logs, metrics and traces platform that is a lighter alternative to Elasticsearch and Datadog.

    OpenObserve has 22,540 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,686 commits in the last year.

2 of 4 · 5 picks

Which open source monitoring tool is best for startups?

For startups, Uptime Kuma ranks first (MIT, 93,018 GitHub stars), followed by Prometheus and Netdata. Ranked for startups on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Uptime Kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (MIT), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    Prometheus

    Metrics-based monitoring and alerting toolkit with a powerful query language, built for cloud-native systems.

    Prometheus has 66,825 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,795 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (Apache-2.0), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Grafana

    Dashboards and visualization for metrics, logs and traces from Prometheus, Loki and dozens of other sources.

    Grafana has 77,561 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 11,934 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    SigNoz

    Open-source observability platform for logs, metrics and traces built on OpenTelemetry.

    SigNoz has 32,473 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,015 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (MIT), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

3 of 4 · 5 picks

Which open source monitoring tool is best for small business?

For small business, Uptime Kuma ranks first (MIT, 93,018 GitHub stars), followed by Grafana and Prometheus. Ranked for small business on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides.

  1. 1

    Uptime Kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot, and appsgit has a step-by-step deploy guide for it. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website, a commit in the last 90 days and an appsgit deploy guide.

  2. 2

    Grafana

    Dashboards and visualization for metrics, logs and traces from Prometheus, Loki and dozens of other sources.

    Grafana has 77,561 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 11,934 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud, and appsgit has a step-by-step deploy guide for it. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website, a commit in the last 90 days and an appsgit deploy guide.

  3. 3

    Prometheus

    Metrics-based monitoring and alerting toolkit with a powerful query language, built for cloud-native systems.

    Prometheus has 66,825 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,795 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud, and appsgit has a step-by-step deploy guide for it. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website, a commit in the last 90 days and an appsgit deploy guide.

  4. 4

    Netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Glances

    Cross-platform system monitoring tool with a terminal, web and API interface.

    Glances has 33,867 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

4 of 4 · 5 picks

Which open source monitoring tool is best for enterprise and solo developers?

For enterprise and solo developers, Uptime Kuma ranks first (MIT, 93,018 GitHub stars), followed by Netdata and Grafana. Ranked for enterprise and solo developers (the same order for each) on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Uptime Kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    Netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Grafana

    Dashboards and visualization for metrics, logs and traces from Prometheus, Loki and dozens of other sources.

    Grafana has 77,561 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 11,934 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Prometheus

    Metrics-based monitoring and alerting toolkit with a powerful query language, built for cloud-native systems.

    Prometheus has 66,825 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,795 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Glances

    Cross-platform system monitoring tool with a terminal, web and API interface.

    Glances has 33,867 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year. For enterprise it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

Is Uptime Kuma free?

Yes. Uptime Kuma is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I self-host these monitoring tools with Docker?

Yes, all of them. Uptime Kuma, Netdata and Grafana publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose.

Are all of these monitoring tools open source?

All 10 apps on this list are open source. You can self-host and modify each one under its license.

Which of these monitoring tools is the most actively developed?

Grafana, with 11,934 commits in the last 12 months and a latest release, v13.3.0, from October 2026. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

How is this list ranked?

Ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 20 apps in the monitoring & status pages category. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

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