Munin vs Uptime Kuma

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?
FeatureMuninUptime Kuma
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePerlJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 2,136★ 89,960
First released20042021
ReplacesDatadogPingdom, UptimeRobot

Why pick each one

Choose Munin if…

  • Very easy to get started
  • Large library of plugins
Munin details

Choose Uptime Kuma if…

  • Very easy to use
  • Great notifications
  • Lightweight
Uptime Kuma details

Frequently asked questions

Is Munin or Uptime Kuma better?

Neither is universally better. Uptime Kuma has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Munin and Uptime Kuma free and open-source?

Yes. Munin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Uptime Kuma under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Munin and Uptime Kuma with Docker?

Munin: check the project docs for container support. Uptime Kuma: yes.

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