Prometheus
Time-series monitoring and alerting, the default for cloud-native systems.
Open source Desktop download
- Platforms
- Linux/Windows/macOS, web UI; CNCF
- Licence
- Open source — Apache-2.0
- Price
- Free
- Category
- Monitoring & observability
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
What it is
Prometheus is a monitoring and alerting system with a time-series database. It scrapes HTTP endpoints, stores metrics and queries them with PromQL, with flexible alert rules. It is the de-facto standard for containers and Kubernetes, and usually pairs with Grafana.
Problems it removes
- You run containers or Kubernetes and need metrics built for that world.
- You want a query language expressive enough for real alerting logic.
How administrators use it
- Scrape exporters and application /metrics endpoints on an interval.
- Write PromQL alert rules and pass dashboards to Grafana.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- Standard for cloud-native monitoring.
- Powerful PromQL.
- Huge exporter ecosystem.
Trade-offs
- Pull model and long-term storage need planning.
- Best paired with Grafana for visuals.
Common questions
Does Prometheus need Grafana?
Not strictly, but most teams pair it with Grafana for dashboards; Prometheus itself focuses on collection and alerting.
Is Prometheus useful outside Kubernetes?
Yes — it shines in container and cloud-native setups but can scrape any HTTP metrics endpoint.