Shinken vs Uptime Kuma

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?
FeatureShinkenUptime Kuma
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguagePythonJavaScript
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 1,136★ 89,960
First released20092021
ReplacesSolarWindsPingdom, UptimeRobot

Why pick each one

Choose Shinken if…

  • Scales horizontally
  • Reuses Nagios ecosystem
Shinken details

Choose Uptime Kuma if…

  • Very easy to use
  • Great notifications
  • Lightweight
Uptime Kuma details

Frequently asked questions

Is Shinken or Uptime Kuma better?

Uptime Kuma is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Shinken if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Shinken and Uptime Kuma free and open-source?

Yes. Shinken is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Uptime Kuma under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Shinken and Uptime Kuma with Docker?

Shinken: check the project docs for container support. Uptime Kuma: yes.

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