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Technology · head to head

Nagios XI vs Checkmk

Nagios XI logo

Nagios XI

Technology

Enterprise-grade monitoring solution with advanced visualization and reporting

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Checkmk logo

Checkmk

Technology

Comprehensive IT monitoring, open and flexible

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Nagios XI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Nagios XI free Edition caps at 7 nodes or 100 services, whichever limit is hit first; Checkmk pricing is metered per service (each individual metric or sensor monitored) rather than per host, so cost scales with monitoring depth, not just server count

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nagios XI and Checkmk actually diverge.

Attributes where Nagios XI and Checkmk differ
AttributeNagios XICheckmk
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo

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

Where each one falls short

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

Nagios XI

  • Free Edition caps at 7 nodes or 100 services, whichever limit is hit first
  • Standard Edition is licensed per node count, starting at $2,595 for 100 nodes and rising to $14,995 for 1,000 nodes
  • Enterprise Edition, which adds capacity planning and SLA reporting, is sold as an add-on starting at $4,690 for 100 nodes on top of the base license
  • Sitewide Edition for large distributed environments has no published price and requires contacting sales

Checkmk

  • Pricing is metered per service (each individual metric or sensor monitored) rather than per host, so cost scales with monitoring depth, not just server count
  • Pro edition starts at 190 euro per month billed annually, and Ultimate at 275 euro per month billed annually; prices are published in euros only
  • The CloudAI SaaS edition is capped at 50,000 services even though self-hosted Pro and Ultimate scale to over 100,000 hosts

Pricing, plan by plan

Nagios XI

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Nagios XI review.

Checkmk

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Checkmk review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Nagios XI if

  • You want to start without paying.
Nagios XI review

Choose Checkmk if

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

Checkmk review

Questions people ask

Is Nagios XI or Checkmk better?
Neither clearly leads. Nagios XI starts at Free and Checkmk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nagios XI or Checkmk?
Nagios XI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Nagios XI and On request for Checkmk.
Does Nagios XI or Checkmk run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Nagios XI for free?
Yes. Nagios XI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Checkmk starts at On request.
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