Is Aiven or Icinga better?

Neither clearly leads. Aiven starts at Free and Icinga at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Aiven or Icinga?

Aiven starts at Free and Icinga at Free.

Does Aiven or Icinga run on more platforms?

Aiven runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do. Icinga runs on Linux, Web.

Can I use Aiven for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Aiven best used for?

Aiven is most often used for running managed open source databases without operating them, multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud, highly available data services with automatic failover, prototyping on a small free instance before scaling up. Of those, running managed open source databases without operating them and multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud are not what Icinga is typically brought in for.

What can Aiven do that Icinga cannot?

Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Automated Backups, Seamless Upgrades, VPC Peering. Icinga covers Forever Free core, Clustering and HA, Icinga Web and API, Enterprise modules (paid).

Databases · head to head

Aiven vs Icinga

Aiven

Databases

Fully managed open source data infrastructure cloud

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Icinga

Networking

Open source infrastructure monitoring, free at its core, with paid support and modules sold separately by Icinga GmbH

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Aiven the free plan gives 1 VM with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB storage, and cannot pick a specific cloud or region; Icinga the free core has no vendor SLA, so production incidents are supported through community channels unless a paid support subscription is purchased
They diverge on capability: Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Icinga covers Forever Free core.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aiven and Icinga actually diverge.

Attributes where Aiven and Icinga differ
Attribute	Aiven	Icinga
Pricing model	usage-based	Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately
Platforms	Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do	Linux, Web
Category	Databases	Networking
Founded	2016	Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aiven

Multi-cloud Support
Automated Backups
Seamless Upgrades
VPC Peering
End-to-end Encryption
Compliance
Observability
PostgreSQL

Only in Icinga

Forever Free core
Clustering and HA
Icinga Web and API
Enterprise modules (paid)
Integration ecosystem

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aiven

Running managed open source databases without operating themnot Icinga
Multi-cloud deployment across AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, OVH and UpCloudnot Icinga
Highly available data services with automatic failovernot Icinga
Prototyping on a small free instance before scaling upnot Icinga

Icinga

An IT team wanting unlimited-scale open source monitoring with no per-host licence fee, running standard Linux distributionsnot Aiven
An organisation on RHEL or SLES that wants officially packaged Icinga builds via the repository subscription rather than building from sourcenot Aiven
A team wanting an SLA-backed vendor support relationship rather than relying on community forums for a production monitoring systemnot Aiven
A company already invested in Prometheus and Grafana wanting to add host and service-level alerting from a compatible open source toolnot Aiven

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aiven

The free plan gives 1 VM with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB storage, and cannot pick a specific cloud or region
Free and Developer tiers have no integrations and no connection pooling
Connection pooling, database forks and dynamic disk sizing need the Business or Premium plan
A 99.99 percent uptime SLA starts at the Startup plan from $75 a month
High availability with automatic failover starts at Business from $180 a month

Icinga

The free core has no vendor SLA, so production incidents are supported through community channels unless a paid support subscription is purchased
Repository access for enterprise Linux distributions like RHEL and SLES is not free, so organisations standardised on those distributions face a real recurring cost most open source monitoring buyers do not expect
Enterprise modules are gated behind a separate module subscription, so some functionality demonstrated in marketing material is not part of the free core
Self-hosting and operating Icinga requires real Linux and monitoring expertise that a commercial SaaS tool would otherwise absorb, so total cost of ownership includes staff time not captured in the licence price
Pricing for the paid subscriptions varies by geographic region and is not published as a single global rate card, complicating budgeting for multinational organisations
The web interface and configuration language, while capable, are less immediately polished than a fully commercial tool like PRTG, and initial setup takes longer to reach a usable state

Pricing, plan by plan

Aiven

Free

Free TrialFree
- $300 credits
- 30 day trial
- All services
Startup$19/month
- Single node
- Basic support
- Daily backups

Icinga

Free

IcingaFree
- Unlimited hosts and services
- Clustering and API
- Community support
Support Subscription$undefined/year
- Professional support (8x5 or 24/7)
- Includes module and repository subscriptions

Which should you pick?

Choose Aiven if

You need multi-cloud support.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do.
You also want automated backups.

Aiven review

Choose Icinga if

You need forever free core.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Web.
You also want clustering and ha.

Icinga review

Questions people ask

Is Aiven or Icinga better?: Neither clearly leads. Aiven starts at Free and Icinga at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aiven or Icinga?: Aiven starts at Free and Icinga at Free.
Does Aiven or Icinga run on more platforms?: Aiven runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do. Icinga runs on Linux, Web.
Can I use Aiven for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Aiven best used for?: Aiven is most often used for running managed open source databases without operating them, multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud, highly available data services with automatic failover, prototyping on a small free instance before scaling up. Of those, running managed open source databases without operating them and multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud are not what Icinga is typically brought in for.
What can Aiven do that Icinga cannot?: Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Automated Backups, Seamless Upgrades, VPC Peering. Icinga covers Forever Free core, Clustering and HA, Icinga Web and API, Enterprise modules (paid).

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aiven: What does Aiven's free tier include and does it have any time limit?

The free tier includes PostgreSQL with 1 VM, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, and 1 GB storage with access to limited cloud and region selections. There are no time limitations on the free tier, though Aiven reserves the right to shut down accounts that violate policies or remain unused for extended periods.

Source

Icinga: Is Icinga free to run in production?

Yes, the core platform has no licence fee and no limit on hosts or services monitored.

Aiven: How is Aiven billed and what are the monthly costs for each tier?

Aiven bills services by the hour and invoices monthly, charging only for what you actually run. PostgreSQL pricing starts at 5 dollars per month for Developer, 12 dollars per month for Hobbyist, 75 dollars per month for Startup, 180 dollars per month for Business, and 270 dollars per month for Premium. All paid tiers offer hourly billing options as well.

Source

Icinga: What do the paid subscriptions actually add?

A repository subscription provides packages for certain enterprise Linux distributions, a module subscription unlocks enterprise-only add-on modules, and a support subscription bundles both with professional support.

Aiven: What backup retention periods are included at different Aiven tiers?

Backup retention increases with tier level: Startup tier provides 2 days of backup retention, Business tier offers 14 days, and Premium tier includes 30 days. Point-in-time restore is available on all paid tiers.

Source

Icinga: Is Icinga related to Nagios?

Yes, it originated as a fork of Nagios but has since diverged into an independently developed platform.

Aiven: Is high availability included in Aiven pricing or charged separately?

High availability, backups, and routine maintenance are all included in the tier costs with no separate charges. The Business tier includes 2 VMs with automatic failover, and Premium includes 3 VMs with a second standby node.

Source

Aiven: Does Aiven offer a trial period to test premium features?

Aiven offers a 30-day free trial to access premium features beyond what the free plan provides.

Source

Aiven vs Icinga

Aiven

Icinga

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Aiven

Only in Icinga

What people use each for

Aiven

Icinga

Where each one falls short

Aiven

Icinga

Pricing, plan by plan

Aiven

Icinga

Which should you pick?

Choose Aiven if

Choose Icinga if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Aiven

More on Icinga

Keep looking

Other head to heads