Icinga 2 vs Nagios Core
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?
Icinga 2
Scalable monitoring system that watches hosts and networks
VS
Nagios Core
Industry classic host and service monitoring engine
| Feature | Icinga 2 | Nagios Core |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,228 | ★ 2,037 |
| First released | 2014 | 1999 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Icinga 2 or Nagios Core 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 Nagios Core free and open-source?
Yes. Icinga 2 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Nagios Core under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Icinga 2 and Nagios Core with Docker?
Icinga 2: yes. Nagios Core: yes.