Monitoror vs Zabbix
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Zabbix
Enterprise-grade open-source monitoring solution
| Feature | Monitoror | Zabbix |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 33 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go Template |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,389 | ★ 6,411 |
| First released | 2019 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Datadog | Datadog, Nagios |
What are Monitoror and Zabbix?
Monitoror
Monitoror is a unified monitoring wallboard that displays the status of CI pipelines, services, and other checks on a single screen. It is designed for office TVs and team information radiators.
- Wallboard-style display
- CI and HTTP monitors
- Single-binary deployment
- Configurable tiles
Zabbix
Zabbix is an enterprise-class monitoring solution for networks, servers, cloud, and applications with deep alerting. It targets organizations needing comprehensive infrastructure monitoring. It is deployed via Docker or native packages.
- Agent and agentless monitoring
- Powerful triggers and alerting
- Network discovery and maps
- Highly scalable
Monitoror vs Zabbix: key differences
Monitoror is written in Go, while Zabbix is built with Go Template. Licensing differs — MIT for Monitoror versus AGPL-3.0 for Zabbix. Monitoror is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Zabbix. Zabbix is the more established project (first released 2001), while Monitoror arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Monitoror if…
- Great for office TVs
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Limited monitor types
- Less active development
Choose Zabbix if…
- Comprehensive and mature
- Scales to large estates
- Fully free
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Dated interface
Frequently asked questions
Is Monitoror or Zabbix better?
Neither is universally better. Zabbix has the larger community, while Monitoror is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Monitoror and Zabbix free and open-source?
Yes. Monitoror is licensed under MIT and Zabbix under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Monitoror and Zabbix with Docker?
Monitoror: yes. Zabbix: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Monitoror or Zabbix?
Monitoror has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Zabbix. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.