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Databases · head to head

Memcached vs Zabbix

M

Memcached

Databases

Distributed memory object caching system

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zabbix logo

Zabbix

Networking

Open source infrastructure and network monitoring with distributed proxies and templating

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Memcached no persistence at all: restart a node and its cache is gone, which every design must assume; Zabbix the database is the scaling limit, and high frequency polling grows history tables fast enough that untuned installations hit housekeeping stalls and query timeouts within months.
  • They diverge on capability: Memcached covers In-memory key-value cache, Zabbix covers Agent and agentless collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Memcached and Zabbix actually diverge.

Attributes where Memcached and Zabbix differ
AttributeMemcachedZabbix
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separatelyOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hostedLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web
CategoryDatabasesNetworking

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 Memcached

  • In-memory key-value cache
  • Multithreaded
  • Client-side sharding
  • Predictable memory use

Only in Zabbix

  • Agent and agentless collection
  • Templates
  • Low-level discovery
  • Distributed proxies
  • Trigger expressions
  • Escalation actions

What people use each for

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

Memcached

  • Caching expensive database query results to cut loadnot Zabbix
  • Session storage where losing sessions on restart is acceptablenot Zabbix
  • Fronting an API whose responses are costly and change slowlynot Zabbix

Zabbix

  • A service provider monitoring thousands of customer devices where per-device commercial licensing is the largest line itemnot Memcached
  • Branch or industrial sites with unreliable links that need local collection and bufferingnot Memcached
  • Mixed estates where the same tool must poll SNMP switches, Linux hosts, Windows servers and Java applicationsnot Memcached
  • Replacing an aging Nagios installation while keeping script-based checks that already existnot Memcached

Where each one falls short

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

Memcached

  • No persistence at all: restart a node and its cache is gone, which every design must assume
  • No replication or failover, so losing a node loses that share of the cache
  • Only simple key-value, with none of the lists, sorted sets or streams Redis offers
  • Values are capped at 1MB by default, which surprises teams caching large documents

Zabbix

  • The database is the scaling limit, and high frequency polling grows history tables fast enough that untuned installations hit housekeeping stalls and query timeouts within months.
  • Initial configuration is heavy; getting useful alerting rather than noise requires understanding trigger expressions, macros and template inheritance, which is a multi-week learning curve for a team new to it.
  • The AGPLv3 change at version 7.0 affects anyone offering Zabbix over a network as part of a commercial service, and that obligation is easy to inherit accidentally during an upgrade.
  • The web interface is functional rather than pleasant, and many sites end up running Grafana alongside it purely for presentation, which is a second system to maintain.
  • Upgrades between major versions touch the database schema and can take hours on large history tables, so the maintenance window is proportional to how much data you kept.

Pricing, plan by plan

Memcached

Free
  • MemcachedFree
    • Full functionality
    • Self-hosted
    • No usage limits

Zabbix

Free
  • ZabbixFree
    • No device, node or metric limits
    • Full feature set with no paid edition of the software
    • AGPLv3 from version 7.0 onward
  • Zabbix Technical Support$undefined/year
    • Tiered subscriptions with defined response times
    • Access to Zabbix engineers for configuration and performance issues
    • Bug fix priority and backports

Which should you pick?

Choose Memcached if

  • You need in-memory key-value cache.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted.
  • You also want multithreaded.
Memcached review

Choose Zabbix if

  • You need agent and agentless collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want templates.
Zabbix review

Questions people ask

Is Memcached or Zabbix better?
Neither clearly leads. Memcached starts at Free and Zabbix at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Memcached or Zabbix?
Memcached starts at Free and Zabbix at Free.
Does Memcached or Zabbix run on more platforms?
Memcached runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Self-hosted. Zabbix runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use Memcached for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Memcached best used for?
Memcached is most often used for caching expensive database query results to cut load, session storage where losing sessions on restart is acceptable, fronting an api whose responses are costly and change slowly. Of those, caching expensive database query results to cut load and session storage where losing sessions on restart is acceptable are not what Zabbix is typically brought in for.
What can Memcached do that Zabbix cannot?
Memcached covers In-memory key-value cache, Multithreaded, Client-side sharding, Predictable memory use. Zabbix covers Agent and agentless collection, Templates, Low-level discovery, Distributed proxies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Memcached: Is Memcached free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Zabbix: Is Zabbix genuinely free for commercial use?

The software has no licence fee at any scale. From version 7.0 it is AGPLv3, so offering it as a network service to third parties carries source distribution obligations.

Memcached: Memcached or Redis?

Memcached is a pure cache: simpler, multithreaded and very predictable. Redis adds persistence, replication and rich data structures, which is why it is the default choice unless you specifically want a cache and nothing more.

Zabbix: What is the real cost of running it?

Database administration and the person who tunes it. Budget for PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB and someone who owns the retention policy.

Memcached: Does Memcached persist data?

No. Everything is in memory and lost on restart, by design.

Zabbix: How does it compare to a commercial per-device tool?

It removes the licence line entirely and adds an operations line. Below a few hundred devices the commercial tool is often cheaper in total; above that Zabbix wins clearly.

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