Observium vs OpenNMS Horizon
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?
Observium
Auto-discovering network monitoring platform
VS
OpenNMS Horizon
Enterprise network management and monitoring platform
| Feature | Observium | OpenNMS Horizon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1 | ★ 1,168 |
| First released | 2010 | 2000 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds, PRTG |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenNMS Horizon if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Observium or OpenNMS Horizon better?
Neither is universally better. OpenNMS Horizon 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 Observium and OpenNMS Horizon free and open-source?
Yes. Observium is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OpenNMS Horizon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Observium and OpenNMS Horizon with Docker?
Observium: check the project docs for container support. OpenNMS Horizon: yes.