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.
| Feature | Naemon | Nagios Core |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 84 · Excellent |
| 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 | ★ 173 | ★ 2,045 |
| First released | 2014 | 1999 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
What are Naemon and Nagios Core?
Naemon
Naemon is a host and service monitoring tool based on the Nagios core, designed for improved performance and modern features. It checks the availability of resources and alerts on outages.
- Nagios-compatible checks
- Improved performance
- Livestatus query interface
- Large plugin compatibility
Nagios Core
Nagios Core is the open-source monitoring engine that watches hosts, services, and network devices, alerting when problems occur. It is highly extensible through plugins and remains a long-standing standard in IT monitoring.
- Host and service checks
- Massive plugin ecosystem
- Flexible notification rules
- Proven at scale
Naemon vs Nagios Core: key differences
Both projects are written in C. Naemon is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Nagios Core. Nagios Core is the more established project (first released 1999), while Naemon arrived in 2014. Nagios Core has the considerably larger community, at 2,045 GitHub stars versus 173. Nagios Core lists first-class Docker deployment; Naemon does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Naemon if…
- Faster than classic Nagios
- Reuses Nagios plugins
Watch out for
- Text-file configuration
- Needs add-ons for a modern UI
Choose Nagios Core if…
- Battle-tested and stable
- Enormous plugin library
Watch out for
- Configuration is text-file heavy
- Dated web interface
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.
Which is lighter on resources, Naemon or Nagios Core?
Naemon has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Nagios Core. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.