Integration methods for Prometheus metrics

This guide explains the three main methods for sending Prometheus metrics from open source projects to Grafana Cloud.

Choose your integration method

Pick the method that best fits your infrastructure and requirements:

Metrics endpoint integration (easiest) - Agentless scraping directly from Grafana Cloud
Grafana Agent scraping (most flexible) - Advanced configurations and reusable components
Prometheus remote write (direct integration) - Forward metrics from your Prometheus instances

Metrics endpoint integration

The Metrics Endpoint integration provides agentless scraping directly from Grafana Cloud. This is the simplest method requiring no additional infrastructure.

Set up a metrics endpoint scrape job

Navigate to your Grafana Cloud instance
In your Grafana Cloud instance, use the left-side navigation to get to the Connections Console (Home > Connections > Add connection).
Search “Metrics Endpoint” to find the Metrics Endpoint configuration page.
Enter your Scrape Job URL (Prometheus endpoint), choose between Bearer and Basic under “Type of Authentication Credentials”, and test your connection using the Test Connection button.
Click the “Save Scrape Job” button to submit your agentless scrape job.

Scrapes are automatically performed at the target scrape job URL every 60 seconds.

Learn more about Metrics Endpoint in Grafana Cloud

Grafana Alloy scraping

If you’re already using Grafana Alloy, you can create a prometheus.scrape component for advanced configurations.

Benefits of Grafana Alloy

Advanced scrape job arguments (scrape interval, sample limit, label limit)
Proxy URL configuration
oAuth authorization blocks
Centralized configuration management
Reusable scrape configurations

View tutorial on using Grafana Alloy to send metrics to Prometheus

Prometheus remote write

Use remote write to forward metrics from your Prometheus instance to Grafana Cloud’s fully managed Mimir database.

Configure remote write

Add this remote_write block to your prometheus.yml configuration file:

remote_write:
  - url: <Your Metrics instance remote_write endpoint>
    basic_auth:
      username: <Your Metrics instance ID>
      password: <Your Cloud Access Policy token>

Find your credentials

You can find the https://...grafana.net/api/prom/push URL, username, and password for your metrics endpoint in the Cloud Portal. Click your stack ‘Details’ then select the Prometheus ‘Details’. The target URL and basic auth username display towards the middle of the page.

Additional remote write documentation

Visit the Prometheus.io Configuration Docs to view additional remote_write configuration settings.

Manage your Grafana Cloud metrics costs

Every Grafana Cloud account includes 10,000 active series metric storage, free-forever. To reduce your billable metrics usage, follow the guidelines below.

Reduce data points pushed to Grafana Cloud

Grafana Cloud provides 1 data point per minute (DPM) resolution for $8 per 1,000 series. You can adjust the total DPM you push to Grafana Cloud by adjusting the scrape_interval settings in your prometheus.yml configuration file.

Learn more about adjusting your Prometheus scrape interval.

Identify and eliminate unused metric data

Adaptive Metrics helps you easily aggregate unused metrics. By applying aggregation rules, you block unused time series data at ingestion while keeping the metric name and labels for discovery when needed.

Adaptive Metrics is available to all Grafana Cloud users for no additional cost.

Learn more about using Adaptive Metrics.