NetXMS vs Observium
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?
NetXMS
Enterprise-grade network and infrastructure monitoring
VS
Observium
Auto-discovering network monitoring platform
| Feature | NetXMS | Observium |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 391 | ★ 1 |
| First released | 2004 | 2010 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is NetXMS or Observium better?
Neither is universally better. NetXMS has the larger community, while Observium is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NetXMS and Observium free and open-source?
Yes. NetXMS is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Observium under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NetXMS and Observium with Docker?
NetXMS: yes. Observium: check the project docs for container support.