# Blackbox exporter vs Terraforming Mars

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

| | Blackbox exporter | Terraforming Mars |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 ✓ | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 51 in Monitoring & observability | #4 of 14 in Gaming |
| GitHub stars | 5 922 ✓ | 961 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +16 ✓ | +9 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v0.29.1 · 21 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Blackbox exporter scores 70/100 against 62/100 for Terraforming Mars, so it is the safer default.

Blackbox exporter ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Terraforming Mars.

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

## Details

- [Blackbox exporter](https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter.md)
- [Terraforming Mars](https://selfhost.directory/project/terraforming-mars) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/terraforming-mars.md)

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