Glances vs Uptrace
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, ratings, and alternatives.
Glances is an open‑source, cross‑platform monitoring tool that provides a concise, real‑time view of system resources such as CPU, memory, disk I/O, network, and processes. It runs on Linux, Windows, macOS and can be accessed via a web interface, making it ideal for both local and remote monitoring. Designed for system administrators and DevOps teams, Glances aggregates metrics into a single dashboard, supports customizable alerts, and integrates with scripts or APIs for automated workflows. Its lightweight design ensures minimal overhead while delivering comprehensive performance insights.
Uptrace is an application performance monitoring platform built directly on the OpenTelemetry standard, storing data in ClickHouse for fast queries over large volumes. It brings traces, metrics, and logs into a single dashboard with service dependency graphs and RED-metric views (rate, errors, duration), so teams can trace a request across microservices and correlate it with logs and metrics without switching tools. The platform accepts data from OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Vector, FluentBit, and CloudWatch, and it can run as a managed cloud service or be self-hosted via Docker, Kubernetes, or Ansible. Uptrace ships an MCP server so AI assistants like Claude Code can query telemetry in plain language, and its open-source Community Edition is free forever with no feature caps on self-hosted installs, while Cloud is priced per GB ingested with a free 50 GB/month tier.
- Fully open‑source and free
- Runs on all major operating systems
- Lightweight with low resource overhead
- Extensible via plugins and API
- Free, fully-featured open-source self-hosted edition with no artificial feature caps
- Per-GB pricing with no per-seat fees keeps cost predictable as team size grows
- Built on OpenTelemetry standards, avoiding vendor lock-in on instrumentation
- Unifies traces, metrics, and logs in one place rather than requiring separate tools
- No native mobile app
- Limited built‑in visualization compared to commercial tools
- Alerting requires manual configuration or external scripts
- Self-hosting requires operating ClickHouse and related infrastructure, adding operational overhead
- Smaller ecosystem and community than established players like Grafana or Datadog
- Cloud free tier's 50 GB/month allowance is modest for larger production workloads
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The Verdict
AI-generated from listing dataGlances is a free, lightweight system monitor; Uptrace is a richer, OpenTelemetry‑native observability platform that requires more infrastructure.
Key differences
- •Glances monitors host‑level metrics only; Uptrace unifies traces, metrics, and logs.
- •Glances is free and runs on any OS with minimal setup; Uptrace offers a freemium model but needs ClickHouse for self‑hosting.
- •Uptrace provides service dependency graphs and RED metrics; Glances offers only basic alerts and visualizations.
- •Glances integrates with many back‑ends via plugins; Uptrace focuses on OpenTelemetry and related collectors.
- •Uptrace scales to large telemetry volumes with ClickHouse; Glances is designed for low‑overhead, single‑node monitoring.
Pricing & value
Glances is completely free; Uptrace’s free tier is limited and paid plans add cost per GB.
Ease of use / learning curve
Glances installs via package managers and runs immediately; Uptrace requires deploying ClickHouse and configuring collectors.
Features & depth
Uptrace delivers unified tracing, metrics, logs, service graphs, and RED metrics; Glances provides only system‑level metrics.
Integrations & ecosystem
Glances lists integrations with InfluxDB, Prometheus, Elasticsearch, Docker, etc.; Uptrace lists fewer native integrations.
Scalability
Uptrace is built on ClickHouse for high‑volume telemetry; Glances is lightweight but not designed for massive data.
Support
Uptrace offers community, GitHub, and paid support on cloud plans; Glances only provides email and GitHub issues.
Migration / lock‑in
Uptrace uses OpenTelemetry standards, reducing vendor lock‑in; Glances exports JSON/CSV but lacks explicit standards.
Choose Glances if…
Teams needing free, simple host‑level monitoring across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Choose Uptrace if…
Engineering groups requiring full APM (traces, metrics, logs) and can manage ClickHouse infrastructure.
Common questions
Is there any cost to start using each tool?
Glances is free; Uptrace has a free self‑hosted edition but cloud usage is limited to 50 GB/month and paid plans charge per GB.
Can Uptrace replace a separate metrics system like Prometheus?
Yes, Uptrace ingests Prometheus data and adds tracing and logging, whereas Glances only provides host metrics.
What level of effort is required to deploy each solution?
Glances installs via package managers on any OS; Uptrace requires deploying ClickHouse and configuring OpenTelemetry collectors.