Self-host OpenObserve

Observability

deployed & timed by usprices checked · Jul 2026

A single Rust binary that ingests, indexes, and queries logs, metrics, traces, and frontend RUM events, with Parquet-based columnar storage for low storage cost.

Splunk / yr$1,800

Self-hosted / yr~$55

You keep$1,745/yr

Key facts

CategoryObservability

LicenseAGPL-3.0

StackRust

Min RAM512 MB

Dockeryes

Difficulty

Our recommendation

Choose OpenObserve when you want logs, metrics, traces, and even frontend RUM in one Rust binary on a genuinely small box — 512 MB is real, not a marketing minimum. If you need SigNoz's deeper APM-style trace analysis or Grafana's dashboard ecosystem, those are the tradeoffs you're making for the smaller footprint.

What you need

Any VPS with at least 512 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
Under an hour if you've used Docker before

Install with Docker Compose

Save this as compose.yml and run docker compose up -d:

# OpenObserve — official single-binary Docker image
docker run -d --name openobserve -v $PWD/data:/data -p 5080:5080 -e ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL="root@example.com" -e ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD="CHANGE_ME" public.ecr.aws/zinclabs/openobserve:latest
# →  http://SERVER_IP:5080

vps picksBest VPS for self-hostingbenchmarked quarterly · re-priced monthly

What you take on

OpenObserve is refreshingly light to run, but a couple of things are worth confirming before you commit:

non-negotiableIt's AGPL-3.0. Network-copyleft terms apply if you modify and offer it as a service — fine for internal self-hosting, worth a legal look if you're redistributing.

non-negotiableIt's younger and smaller than the incumbents. Fewer integrations and community guides than Grafana or Prometheus — expect to read the docs more than search Stack Overflow.

non-negotiableSingle-binary is also a single point of failure. There's no built-in clustering story as simple as the single-node setup — plan separately if you need HA.