What is JMX Exporter used for?

JMX Exporter is a Prometheus project that reads JMX MBean values from Java processes and exposes them as metrics, via a Java agent or standalone exporter. It is a good fit for monitoring JVM applications with Prometheus and exporting metrics from Kafka or Cassandra nodes.

Is JMX Exporter open source?

Yes. JMX Exporter is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at prometheus/jmx_exporter and is written mainly in Java.

Is JMX Exporter free?

Yes. JMX Exporter is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host JMX Exporter?

Yes. JMX Exporter can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to JMX Exporter?

Similar open-source tools in the Monitoring & Observability category include kube-state-metrics, Grafana and SigNoz. SaaS products in the same category include Chronosphere, Amazon CloudWatch and Azure Monitor.

Is JMX Exporter actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to JMX Exporter was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.6.0, published on 5 June 2026. The project has 3.3k stars on GitHub.

JMX Exporter: open-source monitoring & observability

About JMX Exporter

The JMX Exporter is a Prometheus project that collects values from Java Management Extensions MBeans and exposes them as Prometheus metrics. It lets you monitor Java applications and servers that publish their internal statistics over JMX without changing the application code. It can also send data through OpenTelemetry when configured, and it is released under the Apache-2.0 license.

It runs in two main ways: as a Java agent loaded into the monitored JVM, or as a standalone exporter that connects to a remote JMX endpoint. There is also an isolator Java agent for setups that need separation between applications. Configuration is rule-based, with object-name and attribute filters and metric customizers, and the built-in HTTP server supports authentication and SSL.

The project is maintained under the Prometheus organization, has versioned documentation, and holds a fortnightly community call. It suits operations and platform teams that already use Prometheus and need to bring metrics from Kafka, Cassandra, or other JVM-based software into their monitoring setup.

Key features

Exposes JMX MBean values as Prometheus metrics
Runs as a Java agent in the monitored JVM
Standalone exporter mode for remote JMX
Rules with object-name and attribute filters
Metric customizers for naming and labels
HTTP server with authentication and SSL
Optional OpenTelemetry output

Good fit for

→Monitoring JVM applications with Prometheus
→Exporting metrics from Kafka or Cassandra nodes

Built with: Java
Tags: prometheus; jmx; java; monitoring; metrics; exporter; observability; opentelemetry

JMX Exporter: questions and answers

What is JMX Exporter used for?: JMX Exporter is a Prometheus project that reads JMX MBean values from Java processes and exposes them as metrics, via a Java agent or standalone exporter. It is a good fit for monitoring JVM applications with Prometheus and exporting metrics from Kafka or Cassandra nodes.
Is JMX Exporter open source?: Yes. JMX Exporter is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at prometheus/jmx_exporter and is written mainly in Java.
Is JMX Exporter free?: Yes. JMX Exporter is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host JMX Exporter?: Yes. JMX Exporter can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to JMX Exporter?: Similar open-source tools in the Monitoring & Observability category include kube-state-metrics, Grafana and SigNoz. SaaS products in the same category include Chronosphere, Amazon CloudWatch and Azure Monitor.
Is JMX Exporter actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to JMX Exporter was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.6.0, published on 5 June 2026. The project has 3.3k stars on GitHub.