Who is each tool for?
Gr
Grafana Loki
Teams wanting cost-effective log aggregation with Grafana
Pr
Prometheus
Teams wanting powerful open-source metrics monitoring with PromQL
Pros and Cons
Gr
Grafana Loki
Pros
- Cost-effective (indexes labels only)
- Native Grafana integration
- Prometheus-like label system
- Easy to operate
Cons
- No full-text indexing
- Query performance depends on labels
- Less powerful search than Elasticsearch
Pr
Prometheus
Pros
- Powerful PromQL query language
- Excellent Kubernetes integration
- Active open-source community
- Pull-based model is firewall-friendly
Cons
- Limited long-term storage by default
- No built-in dashboards (needs Grafana)
- High cardinality can be challenging
Feature Comparison
Feature
Gr
Grafana LokiPr
PrometheusAPM
4
5
Log Management
8.5
3
Infrastructure Monitoring
7
9
Alerting
7.5
8.5
Integrations
8
8.5
Ease of Use
8
7
Support
7.5
7
Value for Money
9.5
10
Overall Score
8.5
8.9
Pricing
Gr
Grafana Loki
Free / Cloud from $49/mo
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Grafana Loki for a custom quote.
Pr
Prometheus
Free / Open Source
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Prometheus for a custom quote.
Our Verdict
Both Grafana Loki and Prometheus are excellent observability platforms. Prometheus edges ahead with a score of 8.9/10, particularly excelling in APM and Infrastructure Monitoring.
