SNMP Exporter vs Shinken
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | SNMP Exporter | Shinken |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 17 · At risk |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,176 | ★ 1,135 |
| First released | 2016 | 2009 |
| Replaces | SolarWinds | SolarWinds |
What are SNMP Exporter and Shinken?
SNMP Exporter
The SNMP Exporter scrapes SNMP-enabled devices such as switches, routers, and printers and exposes their metrics for Prometheus. A generator builds configurations from MIBs for specific devices.
- Scrapes SNMP devices
- MIB-driven config generator
- Network hardware monitoring
- Prometheus integration
Shinken
Shinken is a monitoring framework written in Python and compatible with Nagios configurations and plugins. Its distributed architecture splits monitoring into specialized, scalable daemons.
- Nagios configuration compatibility
- Distributed daemon architecture
- Scales across many pollers
- Plugin support
SNMP Exporter vs Shinken: key differences
SNMP Exporter is written in Go, while Shinken is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for SNMP Exporter versus AGPL-3.0 for Shinken. SNMP Exporter is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Shinken. Shinken is the more established project (first released 2009), while SNMP Exporter arrived in 2016. SNMP Exporter lists first-class Docker deployment; Shinken does not.
Why pick each one
Choose SNMP Exporter if…
- Brings network gear into Prometheus
- Flexible config
Watch out for
- MIB configuration is fiddly
- Needs Prometheus and Grafana
Choose Shinken if…
- Scales horizontally
- Reuses Nagios ecosystem
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Complex setup
Frequently asked questions
Is SNMP Exporter or Shinken better?
SNMP Exporter is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Shinken if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are SNMP Exporter and Shinken free and open-source?
Yes. SNMP Exporter is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Shinken under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SNMP Exporter and Shinken with Docker?
SNMP Exporter: yes. Shinken: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, SNMP Exporter or Shinken?
SNMP Exporter has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Shinken. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.