Prophet

Fast and automated time series forecasting framework by Facebook.

EstablishedOpen SourceLow lock-in

Pricing

Free tier

Flat rate

Adoption

Stable

License

Open Source

Data freshness

Aging · Jun 8, 2026

Overview

What is Prophet?

Prophet is a fast and automated time series forecasting tool developed by Facebook. It's designed to be robust for handling missing data, shifts in trends, and large outliers, making it ideal for business forecasting.

Key differentiator

Prophet stands out for its ease of use and robustness in handling real-world data issues like missing values and outliers, making it a go-to tool for business forecasting.

Capability profile

Capability Radar

Ease of StartEcosystemValueMaturityFlexibilityScale Ready

Honest assessment

Strengths & Weaknesses

↑ Strengths

Handles missing data and outliers effectivelymedium

Supports trend changes and seasonalitymedium

Automated parameter tuning for ease of usemedium

↓ Weaknesses

Limited flexibility in modeling complex seasonality patternshigh

Prophet's seasonal components are based on predefined yearly, weekly, and daily cycles which may not capture more nuanced or irregular seasonalities

Automated parameter tuning can lead to suboptimal models for specialized use casesmedium

The tool's default settings may not be optimal for all types of time series data, requiring manual adjustments that are not always straightforward

Performance degradation with very large datasetshigh

Prophet can become computationally expensive and slow when dealing with extremely large datasets, limiting its scalability in big data scenarios

Lack of advanced anomaly detection featuresmedium

While Prophet handles outliers well, it does not provide built-in mechanisms for identifying or handling anomalies beyond basic outlier correction

Fit analysis

Who is it for?

✓ Best for

Teams needing robust time series analysis with minimal setup and maintenance

Projects requiring handling of missing data and outliers in time series

✕ Not a fit for

Real-time or streaming data forecasting applications

Applications requiring complex, non-linear trend modeling beyond Prophet's capabilities

Cost structure

Pricing

Free Tier

Available

Open source — free to use

Starts at

$0

Model

Flat rate

Enterprise

None

Performance benchmarks

How Fast Is It?

Ecosystem

Relationships

Next step

Get Started with Prophet

Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.

View Setup Guide →