Tink vs Traefik
Traefik is the Go reverse proxy and Kubernetes ingress. It also exposes entrypoint, router, and service gauges for Prometheus. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux server, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
Traefik routes HTTP. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on Traefik because every Docker Compose guide ships a reverse-proxy label. Then the volume fills, nginx dies, and Grafana still shows 200s — no PromQL matched host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not an entrypoint job unless the router itself is the failure.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep scraping Traefik if you already operate ingress and need HTTP SLOs. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | Traefik |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — static config, entrypoints, Docker labels or IngressRoute CRDs, ACME, and prometheus.yml scrape |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | An HTTP scrape target. Host disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until PromQL fires and you SSH in |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | Open-source (MIT). You still pay Traefik Hub or Enterprise if you want that, plus Prometheus, Grafana, and the engineer who owns routers |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | Dashboard exposure, ACME lock files, middleware chain 404s, config-reload flaps, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | traefik_entrypoint_requests_total and router gauges. Traefik does not watch host fill or a quiet cert unless you added another exporter |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | entryPoints, routers, services, middlewares, providers, and which PromQL actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You graph traefik_service_request_duration_seconds in Grafana, then SSH in to change the box |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | Metrics only — Traefik cannot free disk, restart host nginx, or rotate a cert on the VPS |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a Traefik job — Prometheus rules and Alertmanager have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a Traefik job — an entrypoint scrape does not forecast a quiet volume filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — Traefik does not read auth.log, journald, or host firewall state |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the agent dies — unless you built an up{job="traefik"} deadman check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — Traefik has no customer-facing status page |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — an entrypoint scrape target is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire Alertmanager into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | traefik dashboard and Grafana. No mechanic you text when /var filled and routers still answered 200s |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — entryPoints vs routers vs middlewares, Docker labels, IngressRoute, ACME, and which 404 counter actually pages |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run Traefik ingress and need HTTP scrapes, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When Traefik metrics are the right choice
Keep scraping Traefik when you already want that exact job:
- HTTP ingress — you need entryPoints, routers, middlewares, and ACME, not a mechanic.
- Request density at proxy scale — 404 storms and p99 latency matter more than host nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing Prometheus + Grafana stack — Traefik already scrapes, and someone owns IngressRoute or Docker labels.
- Hosts that only page on Traefik — you already run exporters and PromQL, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just scrape Traefik”
Traefik is a serious reverse proxy. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy traefik_entrypoint_requests_total still means you SSH in and change the box by hand
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless Prometheus scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — Traefik will stay quiet until the router itself is the failure
- A single VPS with a dead Traefik still needs a mechanic, not another entrypoint scrape
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than Traefik plus the engineer who keeps Prometheus scrapes and IngressRoute labels alive, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet Grafana board will not type.
No router homework. No silent host. One command install.
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