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A Grafana time-comparison panel can use much more memory than expected even when it is not receiving more real samples. In a 2026 case study, Grafana contributor Sachin Indwar traced a roughly threefold increase in comparison-frame points to gap filling applied to the wrong time range: the comparison data still represented an earlier window, but the preparation step evaluated it against the current one.
How time comparison added synthetic points
Grafana time comparison overlays data from an earlier period on the current period. In the code path Indwar described, query results first become data frames, which are prepared and gap-filled; comparison frames are shifted forward afterward so they can be shown alongside the current period.
The ordering mattered. Gap filling ran while a comparison frame still represented the earlier window. Because the frame was checked against the current range, its time offset was interpreted as a gap. The gap-filling step inserted null rows, and the later shift moved that padding beyond the visible range. Those rows were synthetic—not extra measurements returned by the query. Indwar framed the debugging question as: “where did the extra points come from?”
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#1 Best Overall
What the reported benchmark measured
Indwar’s 2026 benchmark used 500 series over a six-hour window, sampled at 20-second intervals, with a 24-hour comparison offset. These are measurements from his reproduced setup, which used a browser harness and heap snapshot; they are not an independent replication or a prediction of memory use on other dashboards.
| Measurement in Indwar’s setup | Before fix | After fix |
|---|---|---|
| Comparison-frame points | 3,240,500 | 1,081,000 |
| Comparison-frame heap | 76.4 MB | 22.8 MB |
| 12-panel comparison dashboard heap | 822.5 MB | 225.0 MB |
| Reproduced panel in browser harness | 144.2 MB | 84.4 MB |
For context, Indwar reported roughly 540,000 points in a single-period panel under the same benchmark setup. The comparison-frame point count fell from 3,240,500 to 1,081,000 after the correction, while its reported heap fell from 76.4 MB to 22.8 MB. Those frame-level figures are distinct from the whole-dashboard heap figures; the browser-harness panel result is another separate measurement. The case study details the measurements.
Rank #2
Why the fix targets range alignment
Gap filling is meant to represent missing intervals within a frame’s time span. The failure was not that gap filling existed, but that it ran with the current range while the comparison frame still described an earlier one. Using the frame’s effective range makes the step operate on the data’s own time context before the frame is shifted for display.
This is a useful debugging pattern beyond this specific incident: when point counts or memory jump during data preparation, trace the frame’s time range and transformations as well as heap allocations. Synthetic rows can account for a large increase even when the underlying query did not return additional samples. As Indwar puts it, “When debugging performance, follow the data — not just the allocations.” Source: Sachin Indwar’s contributor article.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Grafana time-comparison release status
Grafana Labs introduced panel-level time comparison as a public-preview feature in Grafana 12.3.0, announced October 29, 2025. The announcement describes comparing time series from two ranges in one panel. Grafana 12.3.0 announcement.
Grafana Labs announced general availability for panel time settings and time comparison in Grafana v13.3.0 on September 24, 2026. The release announcement lists day-before, week-before, month-before, and custom-offset comparison choices, as well as a tooltip delta-color setting. Grafana v13.3.0 announcement. Availability and labels can depend on the Grafana version in use.
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