What is the main difference between Nagios and NetData?

Nagios and NetData are both infrastructure monitoring tools but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Nagios or NetData?

The choice between Nagios and NetData depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Nagios to NetData?

Migration between Nagios and NetData is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

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Nagios vs NetData

Learn how Nagios and NetData differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these infrastructure monitoring tools is best for you.

Nagios

Free open source IT monitoring solution for servers, networks, and applications. Trusted by 1M+ users worldwide with powerful alerting and enterprise-grade features.

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2,064stars+16(+0.8%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
12 days ago
Repository age
13 years
Version
4.5.14
License
GPL-2.0
Self-hosted
Yes
Repository
nagioscore

NetData

Powerful, efficient, and user-friendly monitoring solution for servers, containers, and applications with instant insights and alerts.

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81,299stars+442(+0.5%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
16 hours ago
Repository age
13 years
Version
v2.12.3
License
GPL-3.0
Self-hosted
Yes
Repository
netdata/netdata

Detailed Comparison

Both Nagios and NetData have their unique strengths and serve similar purposes effectively. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

NetData wins

Community & Popularity

NetData significantly outpaces Nagios in community adoption with 81,299 stars compared to 2,064 stars on GitHub. This 39.4x difference suggests NetData has a much larger and more active community. In terms of developer contributions, NetData has 6,718 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Growth Momentum

Nagios and NetData are moving at much the same rate, adding 16 stars and adding 442 stars respectively over the last 30 days (+0.8% vs +0.5%). Neither is pulling away from the other on momentum alone.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Nagios last updated 12 days ago and NetData 16 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Bash, C, Objective-C. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Nagios uses PHP, Ruby, Perl while NetData leverages Python, Golang, Rust, C++.

Comparable

Project Maturity

Both projects started around the same time, with Nagios beginning 13 years ago and NetData 13 years ago.

Comparable

Licensing

The projects use different licenses: Nagios is licensed under GPL-2.0 while NetData uses GPL-3.0. Consider the licensing requirements when choosing for your project.

Comparable

Use Cases & Features

Both tools serve similar use cases in Infrastructure Monitoring. However, they also have distinct specializations: NetData extends into Performance Monitoring (APM).

Comparable

Hosting & Deployment

Both Nagios and NetData offer self-hosting capabilities, giving you full control over your data and infrastructure.

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