Observium vs Shinken
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
Shinken
Python monitoring framework compatible with Nagios
| Feature | Observium | Shinken |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1 | ★ 1,136 |
| First released | 2010 | 2009 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | SolarWinds |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Observium or Shinken better?
Neither is universally better. Shinken 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 Shinken free and open-source?
Yes. Observium is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Shinken under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Observium and Shinken with Docker?
Observium: check the project docs for container support. Shinken: check the project docs for container support.