// GRAFANA-STYLE VICTRON DASHBOARDS
Victron VRM dashboards with Grafana-grade detail, hosted for you
The self-hosted venus-grafana stack — Influx Loader, InfluxDB and Grafana on a box that lives with your system — is a genuinely good way to get rich, second-by-second Victron dashboards. But it is a server you own, update, secure and rebuild for every site. We deliver the same result — beautiful, any-KPI dashboards — as a done-for-you service on the official VRM API, so there is nothing on-site to babysit and many sites fit on one screen. Rated 4.9 on Google.
- ● Live demo on this site
- ● Built & hosted for you
- ● Worldwide
/01 — THE SHORT ANSWER
What a ‘Victron VRM Grafana dashboard’ really is
A ‘Victron VRM Grafana dashboard’ almost always means the venus-grafana route: Victron’s open-source stack that pulls live data off your GX device over MQTT, stores it in InfluxDB, and draws rich, fully custom graphs in Grafana — typically logging at roughly two-second intervals on a small computer that lives with the system. It is a genuinely good piece of engineering, and if you want to run it yourself we will gladly point you at the project.
The catch is not the dashboards — it is everything around them: a box that has to stay powered and online, storage to manage, containers to update, and the whole thing to rebuild for every new site. So there is a fork in the road. If you enjoy running it, run it. If you wanted the result — beautiful, any-KPI Victron dashboards, across several sites, without owning another server — that is exactly what we build and host for you on Victron’s official VRM API. This page gives the DIY route its full due first, then explains the done-for-you alternative and what it costs.
/02 — THE DIY VENUS-GRAFANA ROUTE
What the venus-grafana route actually involves
Credit where it is due — venus-grafana is well thought out. Here is what standing it up actually involves:
- A GX device with MQTT enabled — you switch on the plaintext MQTT service on the Cerbo GX (Settings → Services) so the data can be read locally.
- Venus Influx Loader — the service that subscribes to MQTT and writes each measurement into the database.
- InfluxDB — time-series storage (pinned to 1.8 for 32-bit ARM and older Raspberry Pi). You own retention, disk space and backups.
- Grafana — where you design every panel and dashboard by hand.
- A Docker host or Raspberry Pi that never sleeps — powered, online and on your network, one per site.
The genuine wins: data at roughly two-second granularity, dashboards that work with no internet at all (superb on a boat or a remote cabin), and total freedom over the visuals. The genuine costs: you build the dashboards, keep the containers patched, secure the exposed ports, back up InfluxDB, and repeat the whole setup for every site — and it is not officially supported, so if it breaks, neither Victron nor its dealers will help.
/03 — WHEN TO RUN IT YOURSELF
When you should just run it yourself
We would rather you kept your money than paid us for something you do not need. Run venus-grafana yourself — and enjoy it — if any of these are true:
- You like running infrastructure and have the time to maintain it.
- You need true second-by-second local telemetry with no dependence on an internet connection — a boat offshore, an off-grid research site, a place where the cloud simply is not an option.
- It is a single site, viewed on-site, and you are the only person who ever looks at it.
- Tinkering with panels and queries is part of the fun for you.
In those cases the local Grafana box is the right tool, full stop, and we will say so on the phone. Our service earns its keep in the other situation: several sites, people who are not you needing a clean view, and no appetite for owning yet another server that has to stay patched and online. If that is where you are, read on.
/04 — WHAT WE ACTUALLY SELL
What we build instead — hosted, on the VRM API
We sell the result, not the plumbing. Instead of a Grafana box on-site, we build rich, beautiful, any-KPI dashboards directly on Victron’s official VRM API and host them for you. Concretely, that means:
- Nothing on-site to babysit — no Pi, no Docker host, no new device on your network, nothing to patch.
- Many sites on one screen — VRM’s own installer list is a table and is not brandable, and there is no stock one-screen live multi-site view; we build precisely that.
- Any KPI you care about, laid out and styled your way — not the roughly six-parameter ceiling of VRM’s custom widgets.
- We run it — design, hosting, updates, security and support are ours, not yours.
To be clear about what we are and are not: 365 Techies is an independent service. We are listed in Victron Energy’s Recommended Software Integrator Program — though not a Victron dealer, distributor or reseller, and we are not affiliated with Grafana Labs. We do not run the Grafana software or the venus-grafana project — we deliver the same outcome on the official API. Victron, VRM and Grafana are trademarks of their respective owners.
/05 — SEE IT RUNNING LIVE
See it running live on our own off-grid van
We would not ask you to take ‘rich hosted dashboards’ on trust, so we point our own kit at it. We run an off-grid support van — the 365 Crafter: a Cerbo GX on Venus OS, MPPT solar and a lithium bank — and it streams live through the official VRM API into two completely different dashboard styles on our custom dashboards page. Same real system, two very different looks, both built the way we would build yours.
On the same page you will find a fleet demo: a multi-site board where only the van is real hardware and the other tiles are clearly labelled as placeholders — an honest way to show the one-screen, many-sites view that VRM itself does not offer. It is a live, running example, not a mock-up. See the live custom dashboards here. If the result matches what you had in mind for your own sites, the rest is just scoping and a quote.
/06 — HONEST HEAD-TO-HEAD
DIY venus-grafana vs a hosted service, honestly
Neither route is ‘better’ in the abstract — they solve different problems. Here is the honest head-to-head:
- Data cadence — DIY venus-grafana: roughly two-second local MQTT. Us: VRM’s cloud cadence, which follows the site logging interval, not second-by-second. If sub-minute local data is the point, DIY wins.
- Internet — DIY: works fully offline. Us: cloud-based on the VRM API, so a connection is needed.
- Who runs the box — DIY: you (a Pi or Docker host, always on, one per site). Us: nobody on-site — there is nothing to run.
- Multi-site on one screen — DIY: possible, but you build and host it. Us: built-in and branded.
- Updates, backups, security — DIY: yours. Us: ours.
- Support — DIY: the community forum, not official. Us: a named UK firm you can phone.
- Cost model — DIY: free software plus your hardware and your time. Us: a quote for a done-for-you service.
Read that honestly: if the top two rows are what you care about most, run it yourself. If the bottom five are, that is what we are for.
/07 — WHAT IT COSTS
What a done-for-you dashboard costs
Pricing is quote-based because a single-site tidy-up and a branded twenty-site fleet board are not the same job — and we will not invent a number to look cheap. What moves the price:
- How many sites you want on the dashboard, and whether they share one layout or need variations.
- How many and which KPIs, and how much bespoke styling or branding you want.
- Whether you also want a public embed, a TV or kiosk view, or a white-label look layered on top.
- Any non-Victron data — it can only reach us if it enters through the GX device first — and whether you need money KPIs, which in Victron exist only via Dynamic ESS.
- The ongoing support level you want once it is live.
What we need from you is simple: Victron kit already installed and logging to VRM, and VRM access at the appropriate level so we can read the official API. We build, host and support dashboards worldwide and delivery is fully remote. To be straight about response times, human replies follow UK office hours (Mon–Fri, 9–5 UK time). Tell us your sites and KPIs and we will scope it and quote.
FAMILY-RUN SINCE 1995 · ★ 4.9 ON GOOGLE · 200+ COMPUTERS UNDER OUR CARE · NO FIX, NO FEE · SAME-DAY REMOTE SUPPORT
// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Is venus-grafana an official Victron product?
It is Victron’s own open-source project, so it is well made and actively maintained — but it is explicitly not officially supported. Victron’s own note is blunt: neither Victron nor its partners or dealers will help if it breaks. You run it at your own risk and lean on the Community forum. That is fine if you enjoy owning infrastructure; it is the part most installers would rather hand off.
Do you run Grafana or the venus-grafana stack for me?
No. We build the same outcome — rich, any-KPI, branded dashboards — directly on Victron’s official VRM API, with nothing on your network. 365 Techies is an independent service: we are listed in Victron Energy’s Recommended Software Integrator Program — though not a Victron dealer, distributor or reseller, and not affiliated with Grafana Labs. Victron, VRM and Grafana are trademarks of their respective owners.
Can a hosted VRM-API dashboard match venus-grafana’s two-second data?
Honestly, no — and we will say so before you pay. venus-grafana reads local MQTT at roughly two-second intervals; we read the official VRM API at VRM’s cloud cadence, which tracks the site’s logging interval rather than second-by-second telemetry. If your use case genuinely needs sub-minute local data with no internet dependency — say a boat mid-ocean — the local Grafana box is the right tool, and we will tell you that.
What do you need from me to build one?
Two things: Victron kit that is already installed and logging to VRM, and VRM access at the appropriate level so we can read the data through the official API. Then a short list of your sites and the KPIs that matter to you. We do the design, hosting, updates and support; you do not host or maintain anything on your side.
Can you show several sites on one screen?
Yes — that is one of the main reasons people come to us. VRM’s built-in installer list is a table and is not brandable, and there is no stock one-screen live multi-site view. We build exactly that: your fleet on a single, branded board, each site with the KPIs you choose, hosted and kept running for you.
Can you add cost, revenue or non-Victron sensors?
Within honest limits. In the Victron world, money-based KPIs only exist through Dynamic ESS, and any non-Victron data has to enter through the GX device before VRM — and therefore we — can see it. If those prerequisites are met we can visualise them; if not, we will explain what would need to change rather than promise something the API cannot deliver.
How do I get started?
Start on our custom dashboards page and watch our own off-grid van stream live through the VRM API in two different styles. If that is the result you wanted, send us your sites and KPIs or call +44 1202 775566 and we will scope it and quote. There is no box to buy and nothing to install on your side.
Do you only work in the UK?
We build, host and support dashboards worldwide — delivery is fully remote, so location makes no difference to the work. We are a UK firm and, to be straight about response times, we work UK office hours (Mon–Fri, 9–5 UK time). The dashboards themselves run around the clock; it is only human replies that follow our working day.
If we choose done-for-you, does the dashboard have to run on your infrastructure?
No — done-for-you and hosted-by-us are separate choices. We can deploy the finished dashboard straight onto a subdomain of your own website, and you still avoid running containers, databases or Grafana itself: it’s a static page plus one small server-side relay, with your VRM token held in a server-side file that never shows up in the page code. Access-wise we only need SFTP into that one subdomain folder, and everything we build there sits on your hosting, at your domain — yours to keep.
Want the dashboards without the server?
See our own off-grid van streaming live through the VRM API in two styles — then tell us how many sites you need and we’ll scope it and quote.
01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM