Grafana Loki 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?
FeatureGrafana LokiNagios Core
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmbare-metal, docker, source
GitHub stars★ 28,687★ 2,037
First released20181999
ReplacesSplunk, Datadog LogsSolarWinds, PRTG

Why pick each one

Choose Grafana Loki if…

  • Cheap to run compared to full-text indexers
  • Familiar Prometheus-style labels
Grafana Loki details

Choose Nagios Core if…

  • Battle-tested and stable
  • Enormous plugin library
Nagios Core details

Frequently asked questions

Is Grafana Loki or Nagios Core better?

Grafana Loki is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Nagios Core if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Grafana Loki and Nagios Core free and open-source?

Yes. Grafana Loki is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Nagios Core under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Grafana Loki and Nagios Core with Docker?

Grafana Loki: yes. Nagios Core: yes.

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