PRTG vs Prometheus: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this document, we will compare the key differences between PRTG and Prometheus monitoring systems.

1. Data Collection and Monitoring Approach: PRTG is an agent-based monitoring solution that relies on installed probes to collect data from devices and sensors. It offers a centralized and intuitive web-based interface for monitoring. On the other hand, Prometheus follows a pull model where applications expose metrics and Prometheus pulls the data using HTTP. It collects and stores time-series data in a time series database (TSDB) for analysis and alerting purposes.

2. Scalability and High Availability: PRTG is designed as a single-instance solution, which means it doesn't support horizontal scaling or high availability out of the box. It can be suitable for small to medium-sized environments. However, Prometheus is built to scale horizontally by deploying multiple instances that work in a federated manner. This allows it to handle large-scale deployments and also provides built-in high availability options.

3. Alerting and Notification: PRTG includes a comprehensive alerting system that can send notifications via email, SMS, push notifications, or execute custom actions. It supports granular alerting rules and alert escalations. Prometheus also allows users to define alerting rules, but it relies on external integrations (like Alertmanager) for notifications. This separation allows users to customize the alerting workflow and use various notification channels.

4. Metric Query Language: PRTG uses a proprietary query language that allows users to create custom sensors and define custom thresholds. It provides a wide range of built-in sensors and supports common protocols such as SNMP, WMI, and HTTP. On the other hand, Prometheus uses PromQL (Prometheus Query Language) for querying and processing metrics. PromQL provides a rich set of functions and operators that enable flexible data retrieval and aggregation.

5. Integrations and Ecosystem: PRTG offers integrations with various third-party systems and technologies, including cloud platforms, virtualization platforms, databases, and network monitoring tools. It also provides a RESTful API for custom integrations. Prometheus has a strong ecosystem with a wide range of exporters, which enable it to monitor popular applications, services, and infrastructure components. It can be easily integrated with Grafana for visualization and alerting.

6. Community and Support: PRTG is a commercial product developed by Paessler AG and comes with paid support options. It has an active user community and a dedicated support team. Prometheus, on the other hand, is an open-source project with a large and vibrant community. It benefits from community-driven development and has extensive documentation, online forums, and meetup events. Support for Prometheus is typically provided through community channels and forums.

In summary, PRTG is an agent-based, centralized monitoring solution with comprehensive alerting features. It is suitable for smaller environments and offers good out-of-the-box functionality. Prometheus, on the other hand, follows a pull-based approach, supports scalability, high availability, and has a rich ecosystem of exporters. It provides powerful querying capabilities but may require more customization and integration efforts.