Nagios Core vs SNMP Exporter
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?
Nagios Core
Industry classic host and service monitoring engine
VS
SNMP Exporter
Prometheus exporter for SNMP-enabled network devices
| Feature | Nagios Core | SNMP Exporter |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,037 | ★ 2,156 |
| First released | 1999 | 2016 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Nagios Core or SNMP Exporter better?
SNMP Exporter is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Nagios Core if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Nagios Core and SNMP Exporter free and open-source?
Yes. Nagios Core is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SNMP Exporter under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nagios Core and SNMP Exporter with Docker?
Nagios Core: yes. SNMP Exporter: yes.