OpenNMS Horizon vs Smokeping
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | OpenNMS Horizon | Smokeping |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 69 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,173 | ★ 1,967 |
| First released | 2000 | 2003 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds, PRTG | PRTG |
What are OpenNMS Horizon and Smokeping?
OpenNMS Horizon
OpenNMS Horizon is an enterprise-grade network monitoring and management platform that handles fault, performance, and traffic monitoring at scale. It supports SNMP, flow analysis, and event correlation.
- Fault and performance monitoring
- Flow analysis
- Event correlation
- Scales to large networks
Smokeping
SmokePing measures network latency and packet loss, storing and graphing the results to reveal connection quality over time. Its distinctive smoke graphs visualize jitter and loss for troubleshooting.
- Latency and packet loss graphs
- Distinctive smoke visualization
- Multiple probe types
- Alerting on degradation
OpenNMS Horizon vs Smokeping: key differences
OpenNMS Horizon is written in Java, while Smokeping is built with Perl. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for OpenNMS Horizon versus GPL-2.0 for Smokeping. Smokeping is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for OpenNMS Horizon. OpenNMS Horizon is the more established project (first released 2000), while Smokeping arrived in 2003.
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
Choose Smokeping if…
- Excellent for connection quality
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Single-purpose tool
- Dated UI
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenNMS Horizon or Smokeping better?
Smokeping is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenNMS Horizon if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are OpenNMS Horizon and Smokeping free and open-source?
Yes. OpenNMS Horizon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Smokeping under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenNMS Horizon and Smokeping with Docker?
OpenNMS Horizon: yes. Smokeping: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OpenNMS Horizon or Smokeping?
Smokeping has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for OpenNMS Horizon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.