Nagios Core 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?
FeatureNagios CoreUptime Kuma
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguageCJavaScript
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, docker, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 2,037★ 89,960
First released19992021
ReplacesSolarWinds, PRTGPingdom, UptimeRobot

Why pick each one

Choose Nagios Core if…

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

Choose Uptime Kuma if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Nagios Core or Uptime Kuma better?

Uptime Kuma 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 Uptime Kuma free and open-source?

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

Can I run Nagios Core and Uptime Kuma with Docker?

Nagios Core: yes. Uptime Kuma: yes.

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