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Cloud · head to head

Thanos vs Tilt

Thanos logo

Thanos

Cloud

Highly available Prometheus with long-term object storage

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tilt logo

Tilt

Developer Tools

Local Kubernetes development loop that rebuilds and live-updates containers on save

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Thanos several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes; Tilt docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform.
  • They diverge on capability: Thanos covers Global query, Tilt covers Live update.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Thanos and Tilt actually diverge.

Attributes where Thanos and Tilt differ
AttributeThanosTilt
PlatformsKubernetes, Linux, DockerLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Thanos

  • Global query
  • Object storage retention
  • Deduplication
  • Downsampling

Only in Tilt

  • Live update
  • Tiltfile as code
  • Unified web UI
  • Selective rebuilds
  • Local and remote clusters
  • Resource dependencies
  • Extensions registry
  • Custom buttons and triggers

What people use each for

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

Thanos

  • Querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one placenot Tilt
  • Retaining metrics for years without local disk growthnot Tilt
  • Removing the gap that appears when a single Prometheus instance restartsnot Tilt

Tilt

  • A team of ten or more engineers whose application is fifteen microservices on Kubernetes and who currently wait on CI to test a changenot Thanos
  • An organisation onboarding new developers who want a single command that stands up the whole stack from a committed Tiltfilenot Thanos
  • A platform team giving product engineers a consistent local environment against a shared remote development clusternot Thanos
  • A codebase where one repository contains several services and rebuilding all of them on every edit is the main source of lost timenot Thanos

Where each one falls short

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

Thanos

  • Several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
  • The compactor is a common source of operational trouble and must not run twice against the same bucket
  • Query latency over object storage is meaningfully higher than local Prometheus
  • Object storage costs and API request charges become real at high volume

Tilt

  • Docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform.
  • The Tiltfile is Starlark, a Python dialect, so non-trivial setups become real programs that need reviewing and maintaining, and the person who wrote yours becomes a single point of failure.
  • Live update only works when the running container can accept synced files and restart the process; compiled languages, distroless images and read-only filesystems often force you back to a full image rebuild, which removes the main benefit.
  • It assumes Kubernetes. If your development target is plain Docker Compose or serverless functions, Tilt adds a cluster you did not need and a layer of abstraction with no payoff.
  • There is no commercial support contract, no SLA and no paid tier, so when a Kubernetes version upgrade breaks something you are dependent on GitHub issues and a Slack channel rather than a vendor you can escalate to.

Pricing, plan by plan

Thanos

Free
  • ThanosFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Tilt

Free
  • TiltFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed
    • All features, no paid tier
    • Community support via the Kubernetes Slack #tilt channel

Which should you pick?

Choose Thanos if

  • You need global query.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
  • You also want object storage retention.
Thanos review

Choose Tilt if

  • You need live update.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want tiltfile as code.
Tilt review

Questions people ask

Is Thanos or Tilt better?
Neither clearly leads. Thanos starts at Free and Tilt at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Thanos or Tilt?
Thanos starts at Free and Tilt at Free.
Does Thanos or Tilt run on more platforms?
Thanos runs on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker. Tilt runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Thanos for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Thanos best used for?
Thanos is most often used for querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place, retaining metrics for years without local disk growth, removing the gap that appears when a single prometheus instance restarts. Of those, querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place and retaining metrics for years without local disk growth are not what Tilt is typically brought in for.
What can Thanos do that Tilt cannot?
Thanos covers Global query, Object storage retention, Deduplication, Downsampling. Tilt covers Live update, Tiltfile as code, Unified web UI, Selective rebuilds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Thanos: Is Thanos free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-incubating. Costs are the object storage it uses.

Tilt: Is Tilt free?

Yes, entirely. It is Apache 2.0 open source with no paid tier and no licence fee.

Thanos: Does Thanos replace Prometheus?

No. It runs alongside existing Prometheus servers, adding global query, deduplication and long-term storage.

Tilt: Who owns Tilt now?

Docker, which acquired it in May 2022. It remains open source and the repository is still actively maintained.

Thanos: Thanos or VictoriaMetrics?

Thanos layers onto Prometheus using object storage and is the more established multi-cluster answer. VictoriaMetrics is a separate store aiming at lower resource use and fewer moving parts.

Tilt: Do I need a remote cluster?

No. It works against a local cluster such as kind, minikube or Docker Desktop, and also against a shared remote development cluster if your services are too heavy to run locally.

Tilt: How is it different from Skaffold?

Both automate the build-deploy loop. Tilt puts more weight on the live-update path and a multi-service dashboard; Skaffold is more configuration-driven and closer to Google's tooling.

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