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Networking · head to head

Icinga vs Ory

Icinga logo

Icinga

Networking

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ory logo

Ory

Cybersecurity

Open-source identity, authentication, and permissions infrastructure

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Icinga the free core has no vendor SLA, so production incidents are supported through community channels unless a paid support subscription is purchased; Ory production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
  • They diverge on capability: Icinga covers Forever Free core, Ory covers Authentication APIs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Icinga and Ory actually diverge.

Attributes where Icinga and Ory differ
AttributeIcingaOry
Pricing modelOpen source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separatelyusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Webweb, api
CategoryNetworkingCybersecurity

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 Icinga

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

Only in Ory

  • Authentication APIs
  • Permissions engine
  • Machine-to-machine tokens
  • B2B organizations
  • SAML SSO
  • Multi-region deployments

What people use each for

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

Icinga

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

Ory

  • Adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new productnot Icinga
  • Implementing fine-grained permission checksnot Icinga
  • Supporting B2B organizations and multi-tenancynot Icinga
  • Building machine-to-machine authentication for microservicesnot Icinga

Where each one falls short

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

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

Ory

  • Production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
  • SAML SSO and multi-region deployments are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Usage-based pricing across aDAU, M2M tokens, and permission checks makes cost estimation more complex than flat per-MAU billing.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Ory

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Community support
    • No production environments
  • Production$64/month
    • $21 monthly credit included
    • 1 production environment
    • 3 staging environments
  • Growth$779/month
    • $255 monthly credit included
    • 2 production environments
    • B2B organizations (max 3)

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Ory if

  • You need authentication apis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want permissions engine.
Ory review

Questions people ask

Is Icinga or Ory better?
Neither clearly leads. Icinga starts at Free and Ory at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Icinga or Ory?
Icinga starts at Free and Ory at Free.
Does Icinga or Ory run on more platforms?
Icinga runs on Linux, Web. Ory runs on web, api.
Can I use Icinga for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Icinga best used for?
Icinga is most often used for an it team wanting unlimited-scale open source monitoring with no per-host licence fee, running standard linux distributions, an organisation on rhel or sles that wants officially packaged icinga builds via the repository subscription rather than building from source, a team wanting an sla-backed vendor support relationship rather than relying on community forums for a production monitoring system, a company already invested in prometheus and grafana wanting to add host and service-level alerting from a compatible open source tool. Of those, an it team wanting unlimited-scale open source monitoring with no per-host licence fee, running standard linux distributions and an organisation on rhel or sles that wants officially packaged icinga builds via the repository subscription rather than building from source are not what Ory is typically brought in for.
What can Icinga do that Ory cannot?
Icinga covers Forever Free core, Clustering and HA, Icinga Web and API, Enterprise modules (paid). Ory covers Authentication APIs, Permissions engine, Machine-to-machine tokens, B2B organizations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Icinga: Is Icinga free to run in production?

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

Ory: What does Ory cost?

Ory has a free Developer tier, a Production plan at $770/year including a $21 monthly credit, a Growth plan at $9,350/year including a $255 monthly credit, and custom Enterprise pricing.

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.

Ory: How is usage metered?

Beyond the included credit, Ory charges per average daily active user (aDAU), per machine-to-machine token, and per permission check, with lower per-unit rates on the Growth plan.

Source
Icinga: Is Icinga related to Nagios?

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

Ory: What payment methods are supported?

Ory accepts credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex) and bank transfer, processed via Stripe.

Source
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