Is Icinga or Semgrep better?

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

Which is cheaper, Icinga or Semgrep?

Icinga starts at Free and Semgrep at Free.

Does Icinga or Semgrep run on more platforms?

Icinga runs on Linux, Web. Semgrep runs on web, api, linux, mac, windows.

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 Semgrep is typically brought in for.

What can Icinga do that Semgrep cannot?

Icinga covers Forever Free core, Clustering and HA, Icinga Web and API, Enterprise modules (paid). Semgrep covers Static code scanning, Supply chain scanning, Secrets detection, Cross-file analysis.

Networking · head to head

Icinga vs Semgrep

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

Semgrep

Cybersecurity

Open-source static analysis tool for finding security bugs and enforcing code standards.

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

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; Semgrep free tier caps out at 10 contributors and 10 repositories.
They diverge on capability: Icinga covers Forever Free core, Semgrep covers Static code scanning.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Icinga and Semgrep actually diverge.

Attributes where Icinga and Semgrep differ
Attribute	Icinga	Semgrep
Pricing model	Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately	freemium
Platforms	Linux, Web	web, api, linux, mac, windows
Category	Networking	Cybersecurity

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 Semgrep

Static code scanning
Supply chain scanning
Secrets detection
Cross-file analysis
AI-powered triage and remediation
CI/CD integration

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 Semgrep
An organisation on RHEL or SLES that wants officially packaged Icinga builds via the repository subscription rather than building from sourcenot Semgrep
A team wanting an SLA-backed vendor support relationship rather than relying on community forums for a production monitoring systemnot Semgrep
A company already invested in Prometheus and Grafana wanting to add host and service-level alerting from a compatible open source toolnot Semgrep

Semgrep

Scanning code for security vulnerabilities in CI/CDnot Icinga
Detecting vulnerable open-source dependenciesnot Icinga
Finding hardcoded secrets before code shipsnot Icinga
Enforcing custom code standards with rule setsnot Icinga
Prioritizing findings with AI-assisted triagenot 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

Semgrep

Free tier caps out at 10 contributors and 10 repositories.
Secrets scanning is priced as a separate module ($15/contributor) from Code and Supply Chain.
Self-managed repositories and custom CI/CD require the Enterprise tier.
AI credits are limited per tier and additional usage requires upgrading.

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

Semgrep

Free

FreeFree
- Up to 10 contributors
- Code and Supply Chain scanning
- 60 AI credits total
Teams$30/month
- Code, Supply Chain, or Secrets scanning per contributor
- Pro rules
- AI-powered triage and remediation
Enterprise$undefined/month
- On-prem support
- Custom CI/CD
- 50 AI credits per developer/month

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 Semgrep if

You need static code scanning.
You want to start without paying.
You work on web, api, linux, mac, windows.
You also want supply chain scanning.

Semgrep review

Questions people ask

Is Icinga or Semgrep better?: Neither clearly leads. Icinga starts at Free and Semgrep at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Icinga or Semgrep?: Icinga starts at Free and Semgrep at Free.
Does Icinga or Semgrep run on more platforms?: Icinga runs on Linux, Web. Semgrep runs on web, api, linux, mac, windows.
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 Semgrep is typically brought in for.
What can Icinga do that Semgrep cannot?: Icinga covers Forever Free core, Clustering and HA, Icinga Web and API, Enterprise modules (paid). Semgrep covers Static code scanning, Supply chain scanning, Secrets detection, Cross-file analysis.

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.

Semgrep: What does Semgrep cost?

The Free edition covers up to 10 contributors; Teams starts at $30/contributor/month for Code scanning (Supply Chain also $30, Secrets $15); Enterprise is custom-priced.

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.

Semgrep: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the Free edition supports up to 10 contributors and 10 repositories with Code and Supply Chain scanning plus 60 AI credits total.

Source

Icinga: Is Icinga related to Nagios?

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

Semgrep: How is usage metered?

Pricing is per contributor, defined as someone who made at least one commit to a scanned private repository in the past 90 days.

Source

Semgrep: Is there special pricing for startups?

Yes, Semgrep offers special startup pricing upon request for early-stage companies.

Source

Icinga vs Semgrep

Icinga

Semgrep

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Icinga

Only in Semgrep

What people use each for

Icinga

Semgrep

Where each one falls short

Icinga

Semgrep

Pricing, plan by plan

Icinga

Semgrep

Which should you pick?

Choose Icinga if

Choose Semgrep if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Icinga

More on Semgrep

Keep looking

Other head to heads