Icinga 2 vs Naemon
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Icinga 2 | Naemon |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 73 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,239 | ★ 173 |
| First released | 2014 | 2014 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
What are Icinga 2 and Naemon?
Icinga 2
Icinga 2 is a modern monitoring system that checks the availability of network resources and notifies users of outages. It is Nagios-compatible, scales across clusters, and pairs with Icinga Web for a polished interface.
- Distributed cluster monitoring
- REST API for automation
- Nagios plugin compatibility
- Modern Icinga Web UI
Naemon
Naemon is a host and service monitoring tool based on the Nagios core, designed for improved performance and modern features. It checks the availability of resources and alerts on outages.
- Nagios-compatible checks
- Improved performance
- Livestatus query interface
- Large plugin compatibility
Icinga 2 vs Naemon: key differences
Icinga 2 is written in C++, while Naemon is built with C. Naemon is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Icinga 2. Icinga 2 has the considerably larger community, at 2,239 GitHub stars versus 173. Icinga 2 lists first-class Docker deployment; Naemon does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Icinga 2 if…
- Scales to large environments
- Active development and community
Watch out for
- Steep initial setup
- Multiple components to manage
Choose Naemon if…
- Faster than classic Nagios
- Reuses Nagios plugins
Watch out for
- Text-file configuration
- Needs add-ons for a modern UI
Frequently asked questions
Is Icinga 2 or Naemon better?
Neither is universally better. Icinga 2 has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Icinga 2 and Naemon free and open-source?
Yes. Icinga 2 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Naemon under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Icinga 2 and Naemon with Docker?
Icinga 2: yes. Naemon: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Icinga 2 or Naemon?
Naemon has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Icinga 2. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.