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Technology · head to head

Checkmk vs Zabbix Cloud

Checkmk logo

Checkmk

Technology

Comprehensive IT monitoring, open and flexible

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zabbix Cloud logo

Zabbix Cloud

Technology

Zabbix monitoring, fully managed

From
$50/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Checkmk has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Checkmk pricing calculated by service count, not hosts (approximately 30 services per host on average); Zabbix Cloud billed by NVPS (new values per second) rather than by number of monitored hosts, so cost scales with metric volume: Nano starts at $50/month for 50 NVPS and 2xLarge reaches $5,000/month for 10,000 NVPS
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 28 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Checkmk and Zabbix Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Checkmk and Zabbix Cloud differ
AttributeCheckmkZabbix Cloud
Starting priceFree$50/month
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

What people use each for

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

Checkmk

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Zabbix Cloud
  • System observabilitynot Zabbix Cloud
  • Enterprise compliance monitoringnot Zabbix Cloud

Zabbix Cloud

  • Network performance monitoring and detectionnot Checkmk
  • Server health and performance trackingnot Checkmk
  • Container monitoring in Kubernetes environmentsnot Checkmk
  • Database performance across vendor platformsnot Checkmk
  • VMware and Windows infrastructure observationnot Checkmk

Where each one falls short

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

Checkmk

  • Pricing calculated by service count, not hosts (approximately 30 services per host on average)
  • Professional support limited to 8-10 hours per week on base plans
  • Synthetic monitoring is separate add-on with per-test pricing

Zabbix Cloud

  • Billed by NVPS (new values per second) rather than by number of monitored hosts, so cost scales with metric volume: Nano starts at $50/month for 50 NVPS and 2xLarge reaches $5,000/month for 10,000 NVPS
  • The free trial lasts only 5 days before a paid subscription is required
  • Annual subscription is needed to get the 10% discount; the base prices listed are monthly rates

Pricing, plan by plan

Checkmk

Free
  • Community (Self-Hosted)Free
    • No cost, forever
    • Up to ~100 hosts
    • Basic infrastructure monitoring
  • Pro (Self-Hosted)$190/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • Reporting
    • Distributed monitoring
  • Ultimate (Self-Hosted)$275/month
    • Full-stack observability
    • Advanced security compliance
    • 10 hours x 5 days professional support (upgradable to 24/7)
  • CloudAI (SaaS)$240/month
    • Fully managed cloud hosting
    • 99.5% uptime SLA
    • Supports up to 50000 services

Zabbix Cloud

$50/month
  • Nano$50/month
    • 50 NVPS
    • 10GB storage free
  • Micro$100/month
    • 100 NVPS
  • Small$250/month
    • 250 NVPS
  • Medium$750/month
    • 1000 NVPS

Which should you pick?

Choose Checkmk if

  • You want to start without paying.
Checkmk review

Choose Zabbix Cloud if

Nothing in the data separates Zabbix Cloud from Checkmk on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Zabbix Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Checkmk or Zabbix Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Checkmk starts at Free and Zabbix Cloud at $50/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Checkmk or Zabbix Cloud?
Checkmk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Checkmk and $50/month for Zabbix Cloud.
Does Checkmk or Zabbix Cloud run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Checkmk for free?
Yes. Checkmk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zabbix Cloud starts at $50/month.
What is Checkmk best used for?
Checkmk is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, system observability, enterprise compliance monitoring. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and system observability are not what Zabbix Cloud is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Checkmk: Is there a free version of Checkmk?

Yes, Checkmk Community edition is free forever and supports up to approximately 100 hosts for basic infrastructure monitoring with no cost.

Source
Zabbix Cloud: What is the starting price for Zabbix Cloud?

Zabbix Cloud starts at $50 per month for the Nano tier, which includes 50 NVPS and 10GB of free storage. Pricing scales up to $5000 monthly for the 2xLarge tier with 10000 NVPS.

Source
Checkmk: How does Checkmk calculate pricing by host count?

Checkmk uses service-based pricing where each monitored aspect (file system, hardware sensor, switch port, metric) counts as one service. On average, there are approximately 30 services per host.

Source
Zabbix Cloud: Is there a free trial for Zabbix Cloud?

Yes, Zabbix Cloud offers a 5-day free trial with no credit card required. After the trial, you save 10% by converting to an annual subscription.

Source
Checkmk: What is the difference between Checkmk Pro and Ultimate tiers?

Pro tier at 190 EUR/month includes advanced analytics and 8x5 support, while Ultimate at 275 EUR/month adds full-stack observability, advanced compliance features, and upgradable 24/7 support.

Source
Zabbix Cloud: How does annual billing work with Zabbix Cloud?

Annual subscribers receive a 10% discount on monthly pricing. A pricing calculator is available to estimate costs based on devices, metrics, update intervals, and storage requirements.

Source
Checkmk: Does Checkmk offer a managed SaaS option?

Yes, Checkmk CloudAI is a fully managed SaaS tier at 240 EUR/month with 99.5% uptime SLA and support for up to 50000 services.

Source
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