Best Prometheus Alternatives in 2026
The top Prometheus alternatives are Apache IoTDB, Amazon Timestream and LindormTSDB: 15 Time-Series databases our editors would look at instead of Prometheus, in our ranking order.
Prometheus: A Prometheus-native metrics platform with PromQL, alerting, retention, and federation. Where it falls short: no SQL support for querying time-series data..
Switching from Prometheus? For most time-series databases buyers the best Prometheus alternative is Apache IoTDB, built for ioT data with SQL and many ingestion options. On a budget, GreptimeDB starts at $290/mo.
Why People Look for a Prometheus Alternative
- No SQL support for querying time-series data
- Local storage is single-node rather than horizontally scaled
- Broader architectures require federation or remote-storage integrations
- No sQL support — 12 of the alternatives below have it
- No horizontal scaling — 13 of the alternatives below have it
Quick Picks by What You Need
- Best overallApache IoTDB9.3
IoT data with SQL and many ingestion options
Visit Apache IoTDB - Lowest priceGreptimeDB7.7
Paid plans from $290/mo
Visit GreptimeDB - Best free optionApache IoTDB9.3
Has a free plan
Visit Apache IoTDB - Best for sql supportApache IoTDB9.3
SQL support (Prometheus: no)
Visit Apache IoTDB
All 15 Prometheus Alternatives, Ranked
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
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Best forIoT data with SQL and many ingestion options
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
- Editor score 9.3 vs 8.8
A focused open-source choice for high-volume IoT ingestion, SQL, retention, and scaling.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
9.3/10★★★★★Visit Apache IoTDB -
Best forManaged AWS time-series deployments
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
- Editor score 9.1 vs 8.8
A managed AWS option with flexible ingestion, retention, SQL, and InfluxDB support.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
9.1/10★★★★★Visit site -
Best forManaged compatible metrics and time-series workloads
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
- Editor score 9.0 vs 8.8
A broad compatibility layer for teams managing scalable telemetry and metrics workloads.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit Alibaba Cloud -
Best forHigh-performance financial time-series processing
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
- Editor score 8.9 vs 8.8
A specialized, self-hosted engine for real-time and historical financial analytics.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit kdb+ -
Best forLarge-scale Prometheus storage
- Better than Prometheus:
- Horizontal scaling
A self-hosted, PromQL-focused backend for large-scale Prometheus and OpenTelemetry metrics.
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit Grafana Mimir -
Best forBroad, production-ready time-series workloads
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A flexible time-series database with open-source, self-managed, and managed cloud editions.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit InfluxDB -
Best forPrometheus-compatible metrics at scale
- Better than Prometheus:
- Horizontal scaling
A strong Prometheus-compatible metrics store, but not a SQL-oriented database.
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.5/10★★★★☆Try VictoriaMetrics -
Best forOpen-source SQL time-series deployments
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A strong fit for teams wanting SQL, flexible ingestion, and self-managed time-series infrastructure.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit QuestDB -
Best forIndustrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A flexible industrial time-series database with broad ingestion and deployment options.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit TDengine -
Best forPostgreSQL teams needing time-series capabilities
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
A PostgreSQL-compatible time-series extension for teams needing relational and analytical workloads together.
- SQL support
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit TimescaleDB -
Best forIndustrial teams exploring process trends
Industrial teams can explore process trends, monitor operations, and apply machine-learning analytics.
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit TrendMiner -
Best forObservability data across metrics, logs, and traces
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A flexible observability database that combines SQL, PromQL, and broad ingestion support.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit GreptimeDB -
Best forComplex streaming and time-series analytics
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A distributed time-series platform for complex streaming, scaling, and analytics workloads.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit DolphinDB -
Best forIndustrial IoT with native APIs and MQTT
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A self-hosted industrial IoT database with SQL, native APIs, MQTT, and OPC UA.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit TimechoDB -
Best forCloud-native SQL time-series clusters
- Better than Prometheus:
- SQL support
- Horizontal scaling
A flexible open-source SQL database for distributed time-series workloads.
- SQL support
- Retention policies
- Horizontal scaling
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit CnosDB
Prometheus Alternatives: Common Questions
What is the best alternative to Prometheus?
Apache IoTDB: #1 in our Time-Series Databases ranking, with an editor score of 9.3 out of 10. A focused open-source choice for high-volume IoT ingestion, SQL, retention, and scaling.
Is there a free alternative to Prometheus?
Yes. Apache IoTDB, Grafana Mimir, InfluxDB, VictoriaMetrics and QuestDB have a free plan or a free tier (10 of the 15 alternatives on this page).
Why do people look for Prometheus alternatives?
No SQL support for querying time-series data; Local storage is single-node rather than horizontally scaled; Broader architectures require federation or remote-storage integrations.
How do I switch from Prometheus?
Export your data from Prometheus (most tools have an export in their settings). Sign up for the alternative; start on its free plan or trial if it has one. Import your export and set up the integrations your team relies on. Run both side by side for a short while, then cancel Prometheus.
How to Switch from Prometheus
- Export your data from Prometheus (most tools have an export in their settings).
- Sign up for the alternative; start on its free plan or trial if it has one.
- Import your export and set up the integrations your team relies on.
- Run both side by side for a short while, then cancel Prometheus.
Prometheus vs Each Alternative
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Deployment | SQL support | Retention policies | Horizontal scaling | Ingestion methods | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Prometheus | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | No | Yes | No | HTTP pull scraping; Pushgateway; Remote Write; OpenMetrics backfilling | 8.8 |
| 1 | Apache IoTDB | Free | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | INSERT SQL; Java JDBC; Java, C++, Python, and Go native APIs; REST API; MQTT; CSV; TsFile | 9.3 | |
| 2 | Amazon Timestream | No | Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | AWS SDKs, AWS CLI, WriteRecords API, AWS Lambda, AWS IoT Core, Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon MSK, Telegraf | 9.1 | |
| 3 | LindormTSDB | Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | SQL INSERT via JDBC, InfluxDB line protocol, OpenTSDB API, Prometheus remote write | 9.0 | ||
| 4 | kdb+ | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | tickerplant, feed handlers, batch mode, TCP/IP, Apache Kafka, Python, Java, C | 8.9 | ||
| 5 | Grafana Mimir | Free | Self_hosted | No | Yes | Yes | Prometheus remote write; Grafana Agent; Prometheus Agent; OpenTelemetry; Influx; Graphite; Datadog | 8.7 | |
| 6 | InfluxDB | Yes | $0.002/GB usage-based | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | line protocol, HTTP API, client libraries, Telegraf, influxdb3 CLI | 8.6 |
| 7 | VictoriaMetrics | Yes | Both | No | Yes | Yes | Prometheus scraping, Prometheus remote write, Prometheus exposition, InfluxDB line protocol, Graphite plaintext, OpenTSDB, JSON line, CSV, native binary, DataDog, NewRelic, OpenTelemetry, Zabbix Connector | 8.5 | |
| 8 | QuestDB | Yes | Free | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | QuestDB Wire Protocol, InfluxDB Line Protocol, REST API, native client libraries, SQL INSERT, Kafka connector, CSV import | 8.4 |
| 9 | TDengine | Yes | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | SQL, InfluxDB Line Protocol, OpenTSDB Telnet Protocol, OpenTSDB JSON Protocol, MQTT, OPC UA, OPC DA, Kafka, CSV, PI System, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB | 8.2 | |
| 10 | TimescaleDB | Yes | $30/GB/mo | Yes | 7.9 | ||||
| 11 | TrendMiner | 7.8 | |||||||
| 12 | GreptimeDB | Yes | $290/mo | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | Prometheus Remote Write, OpenTelemetry OTLP/HTTP, Loki Push API, Elasticsearch Bulk API, InfluxDB Line Protocol, MySQL, PostgreSQL, gRPC, HTTP | 7.7 |
| 13 | DolphinDB | Yes | Free | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | Text, binary, JSON, HDF5, Parquet, Arrow, ODBC, APIs, Kafka, MQTT, ZeroMQ, MySQL, MongoDB, HBase, kdb+ | 7.6 |
| 14 | TimechoDB | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | Java, JDBC, C, C++, C#, Go, Python, Node.js, REST, MQTT, OPC UA, OPC DA, ODBC | 7.5 | ||
| 15 | CnosDB | Free | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | SQL, Line Protocol, OpenTSDB, Elasticsearch bulk, Loki, NDJSON, OpenTelemetry | 7.4 |
Head-to-Head
- Prometheus vs Apache IoTDB
- Prometheus vs Amazon Timestream
- Prometheus vs LindormTSDB
- Prometheus vs kdb+
- Prometheus vs Grafana Mimir
- Prometheus vs InfluxDB
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update