# Blackbox exporter vs prefect

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Blackbox exporter | prefect |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 80/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 51 in Monitoring & observability | #5 of 32 in Workflow Automation |
| GitHub stars | 5 922 | 24 092 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +16 | +180 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 17 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.1 · 21 Oct 2026 | 2.20.27 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

prefect scores 80/100 against 70/100 for Blackbox exporter, so it is the safer default.

prefect ships more often: 17 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Blackbox exporter.

If you want the quickest setup, Blackbox exporter is easier to run; prefect needs more configuration.

prefect is growing faster right now (+180 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Blackbox exporter](https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter.md)
- [prefect](https://selfhost.directory/project/prefect) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/prefect.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Kestra vs prefect](https://selfhost.directory/compare/kestra-vs-prefect)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/blackbox-exporter-vs-prefect