Checkmk vs Nagios XI
Checkmk
checkmk.comNagios XI
nagios.comSide by side
| Figure | Checkmk | Nagios XI |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $275/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 9 |
| Spec score · Container Monitoring | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Spec score · Metrics Monitoring Tools | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Spec score · Infrastructure Monitoring | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Spec score · Cloud Monitoring | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Spec score · Enterprise IT Management Software | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Spec score · Monitoring Observability | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Spec score · Hardware Monitoring Software | 9.4 (#2) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring - Enterprise Software | 9.4 (#1) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Spec score · Hardware monitoring tools | 9.0 (#3) | 8.8 (#7) |
| Spec score · Server Monitoring | 9.4 (#2) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring - Midmarket Software | 9.4 (#2) | 9.1 (#4) |
| API | The REST API is designed to cover functionality exposed by the GUI and command line, with OpenAPI documentation generated from the same source as the software. | The built-in REST API uses API-key authentication and returns JSON for reading, creating, updating and deleting system data. |
| Company history | Mathias Kettner founded a Munich consulting business in 2007 that later became Checkmk GmbH, and Checkmk Raw launched in 2012. | Nagios Enterprises was founded by Ethan Galstad in 2007 in St. Paul, Minnesota. |
| Deployment | Checkmk can run on customer hardware or virtualized, with packages for major Linux distributions, Docker and Virtual Appliance. | Nagios XI is self-hosted on Linux and offers virtual machine images for VMware Workstation, Oracle VirtualBox, VMware ESXi and vSphere, and Microsoft Hyper-V. |
| Founded | 2007 | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Munich, Germany | St. Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Integrations | Checkmk advertises more than 2,000 built-in integrations covering hardware, networks, applications, operating systems and cloud or container platforms. | Nagios XI supports authentication with Active Directory or LDAP over SSL, Single Sign-On with Microsoft Entra ID, and two-factor authentication through Duo. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.7 out of 5 from 306 reviews. | 4.5 out of 5 from 59 reviews. |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.5 out of 5 from 138 reviews. | 4.3 out of 5 from 250 reviews. |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 9.1 out of 10 from 18 reviews and ratings. | 8.1 out of 10 from 42 reviews. |
| Self-hosting | Checkmk can run on customer hardware or virtualized infrastructure with packages for major Linux distributions, Docker and a virtual appliance. | The product runs on a Linux server controlled by the customer rather than as a vendor-hosted service. |
| Support | The Pro plan includes professional support for 8h x 5d, while Ultimate includes 10h x 5d and can be upgraded to 24h x 5d. | A paid license includes the first year of Maintenance & Support, version upgrades, up to ten support cases, Support Portal access, Premium features, and an assigned Customer Success Manager. |
| What it does | Checkmk provides unified infrastructure monitoring and observability across servers, networks, applications, databases, cloud, containers and user experience. | Nagios XI is commercial infrastructure monitoring software that executes threshold-based checks on servers, network devices, applications and services, records results and sends notifications. |
Plans
Checkmk
- CommunityFree
- Synthetic MonitoringFree
- Pro$275 a month
- Cloud$290 a month
- Ultimate$400 a month
Nagios XI
- Standard — 100 Nodes$2,595, paid once
- Enterprise — 100 Nodes$4,690, paid once
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Standard$2,595, paid once
- Standard (100-Node)$2,595, paid once
- Enterprise$4,690, paid once
- Enterprise (100-Node)$4,690, paid once
- SitewidePriced on request
In their own words
Checkmk
Checkmk monitors cloud, hybrid, and data center infrastructure, including containers and networks. For web, mail, and database servers, it combines more than 2,000 smart checks with automatic discovery and network mapping. Monitoring can use native agents for Windows, Linux, and other systems, agentless SNMP and TCP/UDP checks, or API-based checks over HTTP/XML, SSH, or TELNET. Cloud coverage includes AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, with automatic component detection and Quick Setup. One instance can monitor thousands of servers, while distributed monitoring supports horizontal scaling. Community includes more than 2,000 integrations and is intended for smaller environments, scaling to approximately 100 hosts. The software can run on customer hardware or virtualized infrastructure, with Linux distribution packages, Docker, and a Virtual Appliance. The Community plan is free forever and includes community support. The pricing note lists paid plans from €190/mo (annual) and a 30-day trial. Other listed plan prices use USD: Pro is $275 a month, Cloud is $290 a month, and Ultimate is $400 a month. Platforms include API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows.
Nagios XI
Nagios XI monitors servers, network devices, applications and services from a Linux server you manage. It checks configured thresholds, records results and sends notifications. Standard includes more than 90 configuration wizards, auto-discovery, dashboards, performance graphs, an open REST API, automation, configuration rollback and snapshots. Enterprise adds SLA and capacity-planning reports, scheduled reports and pages, business process intelligence, bulk changes and an audit log. Users can be restricted to assigned host and service groups, with authentication options including Active Directory or LDAP over SSL, Microsoft Entra ID single sign-on and Duo two-factor authentication. It is self-hosted on Linux, with virtual machine images for several hypervisors and offline installation on Red Hat and CentOS Stream. A 30-day trial provides unlimited monitoring, Enterprise features and direct support without a credit card. The free plan is limited to 7 nodes or 100 services, whichever comes first. Paid perpetual licenses are priced by monitored nodes: Standard is $2,595.00 once and Enterprise is $4,690.00 once, each shown for 100 nodes.