Nagios Core vs Netdata

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?
FeatureNagios CoreNetdata
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageCGo
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, docker, sourcedocker, bare-metal, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 2,037★ 80,075
First released19992013
ReplacesSolarWinds, PRTGDatadog, New Relic

Why pick each one

Choose Nagios Core if…

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

Choose Netdata if…

  • Instant insight out of the box
  • Beautiful real-time charts
  • Easy install
Netdata details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nagios Core or Netdata better?

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

Are Nagios Core and Netdata free and open-source?

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

Can I run Nagios Core and Netdata with Docker?

Nagios Core: yes. Netdata: yes.

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