Prometheus Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Prometheus costs Free to Free per month as of November 2026 including a free tier. Plan: Open source (self-hosted) (free). Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
Prometheus offers 1 pricing tiers: Open source (self-hosted). The Open source (self-hosted) plan is teams that run their own monitoring.
Yes, Prometheus offers a forever free plan as of November 2026. The free tier includes 2 features with limits on usage. Pricing verified from 5 sources by CostBench.
Prometheus's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- Free, open-source monitoring system (Apache 2.0)
- Download and run it yourself
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like advanced automation
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Prometheus branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Prometheus free?
Yes, Prometheus offers a forever free plan with 2 core features included. However, there are limits on users and features that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Prometheus's free plan?
Prometheus's free plan includes: Free, open-source monitoring system (Apache 2.0), Download and run it yourself. Key limits include basic usage caps.
03 What's NOT included in Prometheus's free plan?
The free plan excludes: advanced features, premium support, and higher limits. You'll also have Prometheus branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Prometheus's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like advanced automation, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $0/month.
05 Is Prometheus's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Prometheus's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.
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