Naemon 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?
Naemon
Network monitoring core based on the Nagios codebase
VS
Nagios Core
Industry classic host and service monitoring engine
| Feature | Naemon | Nagios Core |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 170 | ★ 2,037 |
| First released | 2014 | 1999 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Naemon or Nagios Core better?
Neither is universally better. Nagios Core has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Naemon and Nagios Core free and open-source?
Yes. Naemon 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 Naemon and Nagios Core with Docker?
Naemon: check the project docs for container support. Nagios Core: yes.