Netdata vs Monit

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?
FeatureNetdataMonit
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB16 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, kubernetesbare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 80,075★ 200
First released20132001
ReplacesDatadog, New RelicDatadog

Why pick each one

Choose Netdata if…

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

Choose Monit if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Self-healing actions
Monit details

Frequently asked questions

Is Netdata or Monit better?

Neither is universally better. Netdata has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Netdata and Monit free and open-source?

Yes. Netdata is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Monit under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Netdata and Monit with Docker?

Netdata: yes. Monit: check the project docs for container support.

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