Checkmk vs Netdata

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCheckmkNetdata
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM1,024 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 2,336★ 80,075
First released20092013
ReplacesNagios, DatadogDatadog, New Relic

Why pick each one

Choose Checkmk if…

  • Strong auto-discovery
  • Scales well
  • Good defaults
Checkmk details

Choose Netdata if…

  • Instant insight out of the box
  • Beautiful real-time charts
  • Easy install
Netdata details

Frequently asked questions

Is Checkmk or Netdata better?

Netdata is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Checkmk if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Checkmk and Netdata free and open-source?

Yes. Checkmk is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Netdata under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Checkmk and Netdata with Docker?

Checkmk: yes. Netdata: yes.

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