# Blackbox exporter vs scalar

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

| | Blackbox exporter | scalar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 76/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 51 in Monitoring & observability | #3 of 13 in API |
| GitHub stars | 5 922 | 16 337 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +16 | +148 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 46 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.1 · 21 Oct 2026 | release-2026-10-28-0d01943 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

scalar scores 76/100 against 70/100 for Blackbox exporter, so it is the safer default.

scalar ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Blackbox exporter.

scalar is growing faster right now (+148 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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