BetterDB vs Prometheus + Grafana
Short version: they're complementary, not competitors. Prometheus and Grafana are general observability infrastructure. BetterDB is database-specific observability for Valkey and Redis - and it exposes Prometheus metrics, so it plugs into the stack you already run.
What each is built for
| Need | BetterDB | Prometheus + Grafana (+ exporter) |
|---|---|---|
| General infrastructure metrics (hosts, services, whole stack) | Database-focused only | Purpose-built |
| Custom dashboards | Fixed, database-specific views | Grafana - fully custom |
| Valkey-native surfaces (COMMANDLOG, CLUSTER SLOT-STATS, per-thread I/O) | Native support | Not exposed by redis_exporter |
| Historical slowlog that survives rotation | Persisted and queryable by pattern | Requires custom tooling |
| Command pattern analytics (e.g. which GET pattern is slow) | Built in | Requires additional tooling |
| Client attribution (which service caused it) | Built in, persisted | Limited (aggregate client counts) |
| Anomaly detection | Baseline learning + plain-English diagnoses (Pro, free in early access) | Hand-written alert thresholds |
| Capacity forecasting | Projected time-to-ceiling built in | Manual PromQL (predict_linear) |
| Alerting | Webhooks with HMAC signing and delivery log | Alertmanager - mature and flexible |
| Setup | Single container | Exporter + Prometheus + Grafana + Alertmanager |
The architecture most teams land on
Keep Prometheus and Grafana as the broad observability layer, and let BetterDB own database-specific investigation:
Valkey / Redis
↓
BetterDB → persistent history, anomalies,
↓ client attribution, hot keys
Prometheus → scrapes 100+ betterdb_* metrics
↓
Grafana / AlertmanagerBetterDB ships an Alertmanager rules file for its metrics, and speaks OpenTelemetry in both directions.
See the Prometheus metrics BetterDB exports →FAQ
Do I need to replace Prometheus and Grafana with BetterDB?
No. They solve different problems and work well together. Prometheus/Grafana is general observability infrastructure; BetterDB is database-specific investigation. BetterDB exposes 100+ Prometheus metrics from its own endpoint, so Prometheus can scrape BetterDB and your Grafana dashboards can include Valkey-aware metrics that redis_exporter does not provide.
What does BetterDB see that redis_exporter cannot?
Persistent slowlog and COMMANDLOG history with pattern analysis, client-level attribution over time, hot-key tracking, Valkey CLUSTER SLOT-STATS, per-thread CPU/I/O metrics, ACL audit trails, and correlated anomaly diagnoses. Exporters sample INFO-level gauges and counters; they do not retain or analyze command-level history.
Can BetterDB feed my existing Alertmanager?
Yes. BetterDB ships a ready-made Alertmanager rules file for its Prometheus metrics, and its own webhook alerts can run alongside your existing alerting.
Does BetterDB support OpenTelemetry?
Yes, in both directions: it ingests OTLP traces from your applications and can mirror metrics and events to any OTLP backend.
Deciding between more tools? When should you use BetterDB? →
Add it next to your Prometheus in one command
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