Grafana + Prometheus vs Netdata
Both are alternatives to Datadog. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Netdata vs Grafana + Prometheus — same comparison, one verdict.
Grafana + Prometheus
TOP PICKThe open-source observability standard.
Prometheus scrapes and stores metrics; Grafana visualizes them (and logs and traces via Loki and Tempo). Together they are the de-facto open-source monitoring stack, fully self-hostable.
Netdata
Real-time, per-second monitoring with zero-config auto-discovery.
Netdata delivers high-resolution, real-time metrics with automatic discovery and minimal configuration, ideal for fast, granular infrastructure visibility on your own machines.
Side by side
| Grafana + Prometheus | Netdata | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 90 | 85 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (Grafana) / Apache-2.0 (Prometheus) | GPL-3.0 |
| Pricing | Free / self-host | Free / self-host; optional paid cloud |
Grafana + Prometheus is Macrostack's recommended Datadog alternative, so it's our pick here.
Grafana + Prometheus
Strengths
- +Industry-standard, huge ecosystem
- +Metrics, logs, and traces via the same UI
- +Enormous community and dashboards
Trade-offs
- −You assemble and operate the stack
- −Steeper initial setup than a SaaS agent
Netdata
Strengths
- +Per-second resolution out of the box
- +Auto-discovers most services
- +Very low setup effort
Trade-offs
- −Less of a long-term query store than Prometheus
- −Best paired with other tools for logs/traces
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-07-12. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.