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Plugins
Besides the wide range of visualizations and data sources that are available immediately after you install Grafana, you can extend your Grafana experience with plugins.
You can [install]({{< relref "installation.md" >}}) one of the plugins built by the Grafana community, or [build one yourself]({{< relref "../developers/plugins/_index.md" >}}).
Grafana supports three types of plugins: panels, data sources, and apps.
Panel plugins
Add new visualizations to your dashboard with panel plugins, such as the Worldmap Panel, Clock, and Pie Chart.
Use panel plugins when you want to:
- Visualize data returned by data source queries.
- Navigate between dashboards.
- Control external systems, such as smart home devices.
Data source plugins
Data source plugins add support for new databases, such as Google BigQuery.
Data source plugins communicate with external sources of data and return the data in a format that Grafana understands. By adding a data source plugin, you can immediately use the data in any of your existing dashboards.
Use data source plugins when you want to import data from external systems.
App plugins
Applications, or app plugins, bundle data sources and panels to provide a cohesive experience, such as the Zabbix app.
Apps can also add custom pages for things like control panels.
Use app plugins when you want to create an custom out-of-the-box monitoring experience.
Learn more
- [Install plugins]({{< relref "./installation.md" >}})
- [Plugin signatures]({{< relref "./plugin-signatures.md" >}})
- Browse the available Plugins