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Prometheus vs Vultr

Prometheus logo

Prometheus

Software

Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Software

High performance cloud compute

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Prometheus not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy; Vultr vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan
  • They diverge on capability: Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, Vultr covers Cloud servers.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Prometheus and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where Prometheus and Vultr differ
AttributePrometheusVultr
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb, Api, Cli
Founded20152014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Prometheus

  • Multi-dimensional Data Model
  • PromQL Query Language
  • Pull-based Collection
  • Service Discovery
  • Alerting Rules
  • Federation
  • Local Storage
  • Grafana

Only in Vultr

  • Cloud servers
  • Bare metal servers
  • Block storage
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Firewalls
  • Private networks
  • Terraform

Both cover

  • Kubernetes

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Prometheus

  • Cloud-native monitoring and alertingnot Vultr
  • Time-series metrics collectionnot Vultr
  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Vultr

Vultr

  • High performance computingnot Prometheus
  • Game serversnot Prometheus
  • Streamingnot Prometheus
  • Database hostingnot Prometheus
  • Application serversnot Prometheus

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Prometheus

  • Not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • Hard limit on scrape body size; large responses cause scrape failure
  • Per-scrape sample limit enforced; exceeding limit marks targets as failed
  • Not designed for long-term durable storage; optimised for metrics collection

Vultr

  • Vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Prometheus

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prometheus review.

Vultr

Free
  • Cloud Compute$2.5/month
    • 512MB RAM
    • 10GB SSD
    • 500GB bandwidth
  • Bare Metal$32/month
    • Dedicated hardware
    • High performance
    • Full root access

Which should you pick?

Choose Prometheus if

  • You need multi-dimensional data model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want promql query language.
Prometheus review

Choose Vultr if

  • You need cloud servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal servers.
Vultr review

Questions people ask

Is Prometheus or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. Prometheus starts at Free and Vultr at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Prometheus or Vultr?
Prometheus starts at Free and Vultr at Free.
Does Prometheus or Vultr run on more platforms?
Prometheus runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Prometheus for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Prometheus best used for?
Prometheus is most often used for cloud-native monitoring and alerting, time-series metrics collection, infrastructure monitoring. Of those, cloud-native monitoring and alerting and time-series metrics collection are not what Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can Prometheus do that Vultr cannot?
Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, PromQL Query Language, Pull-based Collection, Service Discovery. Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage. Both handle Kubernetes.
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