# mqtt-exporter vs prometheus

> Two self-hosted [Monitoring & observability projects](https://selfhost.directory/monitoring-observability), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | mqtt-exporter | prometheus |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 48/100 | 90/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #67 of 104 in Monitoring & observability | #1 of 104 in Monitoring & observability |
| GitHub stars | 168 | 66 847 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +0 | +635 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 16 ✓ |
| Latest release | mqtt-exporter-0.1.4 · 11 May 2026 | v3.15.1 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

prometheus scores 90/100 against 48/100 for mqtt-exporter, so it is the safer default.

prometheus ships more often: 16 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for mqtt-exporter.

If you want the quickest setup, mqtt-exporter is easier to run; prometheus needs more configuration.

prometheus is growing faster right now (+635 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [mqtt-exporter](https://selfhost.directory/project/mqtt-exporter) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mqtt-exporter.md)
- [prometheus](https://selfhost.directory/project/prometheus) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/prometheus.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mqtt-exporter-vs-prometheus