Zabbix is an enterprise-class, open-source distributed monitoring solution designed to monitor and track performance and availability of IT infrastructure including networks, servers, applications, virtual machines (VMs), and cloud services.

Here is our list of the twelve best Zabbix alternatives:

  • SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor EDITOR’S CHOICE Α powerful network monitoring tool that helps organizations detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • Atera (FREE TRIAL) A package for managed service providers that includes automated system monitoring tools. This is a cloud platform. Access the free trial.
  • ManageEngine OpManager (FREE TRIAL) This software package provides network performance monitoring through the deployment of SNMP processes plus other techniques. Available for Windows Server, Linux, AWS, and Azure. Access a 30-day free trial.
  • Paessler PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL) Α network monitoring tool from Paessler AG -a German-based company. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • Domotz (FREE TRIAL) This SaaS package monitors and manages networks, endpoints, and software for a fixed price per site. Access a 14-day free trial.
  • Nagios IT infrastructure monitoring and management software that enables organizations to identify and resolve problems before it gets out of hand.
  • Checkmk Οne of the leading tools for IT infrastructure and application monitoring that uses an agentless and agent-based approach to monitor the health of IT infrastructure.
  • Icinga Α popular enterprise-grade open-source tool for IT infrastructure and application monitoring.
  • Observium Α powerful auto-discovering network monitoring platform that provides real-time network and infrastructure monitoring.
  • NetXMS Αn enterprise grade multi-platform open-source network management and monitoring tool.
  • OpenNMS Αn open-source network management and monitoring tool developed and managed by the OpenNMS Group and a community of developers.
  • Pandora FMS All-in-one network monitoring tool that uses an agentless and agent-based approach to monitor the health of IT infrastructure.

Nevertheless, Zabbix is not a one-size-fits-all perfect solution for every organization. The fact that it fits perfectly from a feature and functionality standpoint for one organization does not mean it will fit for another. In addition, Zabbix, just like every other software solution, also has its own challenges and imperfections.

For example, there have been complaints that:

  • It requires a steep learning curve, and a significant amount of time and expertise to set up and maintain it.
  • It requires a significant amount of system resources compared to other monitoring tools
  • If not tuned properly, the database can grow large very quickly and tuning it can be a lot of work.

The best Zabbix Alternatives

If you figured out that Zabbix is not best suited for your environment and you’re considering a suitable alternative, you’ll find lots of them out there from open-source to commercial level. Choosing the right one for your business and budget can be challenging. To help you decide between the countless open-source and commercial IT infrastructure monitoring tools on the market, we’ve put together a list of the ten best Zabbix alternatives.

Hopefully, this will guide you in the process of selecting the right one for your environment.

Our methodology for selecting a Zabbix alternative

We reviewed the market for system monitors like Zabbix and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:

  • An automated network discovery system
  • Automatic inventory and network map creation
  • Constant updates on infrastructure
  • Device status tracking
  • Alerts for evolving problems
  • A free tool or a paid system with a free trial for a no-obligation assessment
  • Value for money represented by a rival to Zabbix that is so good it is worth paying for

Using this set of criteria, we looked for rivals to Zabbix that were worth using. Although there are many monitoring tools that, like Zabbix, are free to use, a lot of them aren’t any good. So, where we have selected a free alternative to Zabbix, it needs to be better than Zabbix. We also included some paid tools because the most important factor for businesses is whether a monitoring tool will pay for itself in quality of service improvements and cost-cutting efficiency.

1. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (FREE TRIAL)

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is a powerful network monitoring tool that helps organizations detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues. The tool is best suited for medium to large-scale enterprises.

Key Features:

  • Multi-vendor network monitoring
  • Network Insights for deeper discovery & visibility
  • Intelligent network topology mapping
  • NetPath and PerfStack for easy troubleshooting
  • Constantly updated asset inventory
  • Covers LANs and wireless networks
  • Advanced alerting
  • Critical path visualization

NPM can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises using Windows server 2019, 2016 or 2012 R2. The SolarWinds Orion platform is required in order to deploy NPM either in the cloud or on-premises. The Orion Platform is the core of all SolarWinds IT products, and it allows the NPM to seamlessly work and integrate with other SolarWinds tools and software.

The SolarWinds NPM license is based on a number of items to monitor or according to the largest number of the monitored network elements. Each license tier has a stipulated maximum number of supported nodes (routers, switches, physical and virtual servers), interfaces (VLANs, ports and interfaces), and volumes (any logical disks being monitored) to manage and monitor, as shown on the table below:

One potential downside to this tool is that the capabilities that it offers come at the expense of enormous system resource requirements. This means that to get the most of this software, you need a hardware and software server that will be capable of handling all that SolarWinds NPM has to offer. You can check out the 30-day fully functional free trial to confirm its capabilities and make sure it’s the right fit for your organization before purchase.

Pros:

  • Reliable and stable software
  • Excellent professional support team
  • Covers networked systems such as virtualizations
  • Path analysis
  • Availability checks

Cons:

  • No SaaS version

2. Atera (FREE TRIAL)

EDITOR’S CHOICE

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is our top pick for a Zabbix alternative because it is the leading network monitoring system in the world. This tool is worth paying for, so it fully competes with Zabbix. The Network Performance Monitor has many more utilities than the Zabbix system and it is able to save the companies that it serves the cost of recovering from disaster by spotting gathering problems before they impact the users. You don’t have to sit and watch the monitor of this tool because it will send you an email or an SMS when your attention is needed. So, the saving you make on the cost of technical staff, which is way higher than the price of this monitoring system.

Download: Download 30-day FREE Trial

Official Site: https://www.solarwinds.com/network-performance-monitor/registration

OS: Windows Server

Atera is a package of tools that provides a managed service provider (MSP) with all of the tools needed to run the client support business. This includes tools for technicians to use and also systems to manage the business, such as a help desk ticketing system and support team management functions.

  • Designed for managed service providers
  • Task automation
  • Performance alerts
  • System management functions

The Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) package that is included in Atera includes all of the tools needed to manage a system remotely. This includes monitors for networks, servers, and applications. The package implements some system management services as well, such as patch management.

At the core of the RMM is an alerts system. This sets thresholds on acceptable performance levels for a range of system activity indicators. If one of those thresholds gets crossed, the system generates an alert. The MSP technicians don’t need to sit and watch the monitoring console all of the time because they know that they will be drawn back to the dashboard if a problem starts to evolve. The thresholds are set at levels that give technicians enough to take action and head of noticeable performance impairment.

The features built into the RMM package enable each technician to be responsible for many client systems simultaneously. MSP managers can keep an eye on delivery performance by setting the monitoring package to coordinate with the service level agreements that are connected to their contracts. The system tracks the time that operators spend working for each client site as well, which makes billing a lot easier.

The Atera system is offered in three plans and there are add-on services available as well. These include an automated network discovery and mapping service. The Atera system can be expanded by integrations that interact with third-party tools.

Atera is a SaaS package, so you don’t need to host the monitoring software on your own servers. It is also possible to extend access to the service out to home-based staff. You can get a free trial to assess Atera.

  • Multi-tenanted architecture

  • Enables each support technician to serve many clients

  • Includes automated patch management

  • Remote access and remote desktop utilities

  • Network topology mapping costs extra

Atera Start a FREE Trial

3. ManageEngine OpManager (FREE TRIAL)

ManageEngine OpManager is a classic network performance monitor that uses the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to query device agents for status reports. From these reports, the network monitor provides live monitoring services that are displayed in charts, dials, graphs, and lists in the OpManager dashboard.

The OpManager system is able to assemble a network inventory from the SNMP reports. This list of devices gets updated with each poll of device agents. The system can track activity on switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, endpoints, wireless LAN access points, printers, and storage devices. It is also able to monitor virtualizations.

  • Autodiscovery
  • Constantly updated network inventory
  • Choice of network map formats

The tools in the OpManager dashboard include a network topology mapper. This generates network maps on demand from the data listed in the network inventory. As the inventory is constantly checked, the maps always show the current state of the network.

Within the monitor settings, ManageEngine offers a series of performance thresholds. These can be customized by altering their levels. A performance threshold can be placed on any of the metrics that the system tracks. When the network’s metrics cross a threshold, OpManagfer generates an alert. Alerts can be sent to technicians by email, SMS, chat app, or ticketing system.

The OpManager system also monitors the performance of servers. That includes cloud platforms and the network monitoring service will track the performance of internet connections out to those remote services. You can also set up an availability monitor on your URLs.

Analytical tools in the OpManager package include a Traceroute utility and path performance analysis. These systems can be used both for network assessments and for internet connection testing.

ManageEngine OpManager is a software package for Windows Server and Linux. If you have an account on AWS or Azure, you can access the OpManager system on the Marketplace of that platform. ManageEngine offers a 30-day free trial of OpManager. There is also a Free edition available that offers basic monitoring of three network devices. OpManager is also available in a multi-tenanted configuration for managed service providers.

  • Free version

  • Attractive dashboard with easy-to-read graphs of live data

  • Performance alerts can be channeled through a service desk ticketing system

  • Doesn’t include system management tools

ManageEngine OpManager Access 30-day FREE Trial

4. PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL)

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor is a mature and well-known network monitoring tool from Paessler AG, a company based in Germany. There are few tools that provide the blend of maturity and rich capabilities that the PRTG tool provides.

  • Monitors networks, servers, and applications
  • Choice of on-premises or SaaS
  • Network mapping

It comes in different editions and variants such as:

  • PRTG Enterprise Monitor—targeted at large networks with thousands of devices and systems across multiple locations.
  • PRTG Hosted Monitor—a cloud-based option that allows you to monitor from the cloud
  • PRTG Desktop—allows you to manage multiple PRTG servers.
  • PRTG Mobile App—allows you to check your network, devices, and sensors while on the go.

PRTG Network Monitor is agentless—which means you do not need to install any agent on the target devices and application, instead it uses network protocols such as SNMP, WMI, NetFlow, or SSH to carry out its monitoring functions. This way, not only is the burden lower, the monitoring is done quickly and easily. Other key features and capabilities include:

  • In-depth reporting—runs or schedules regular reports, and gets the statistics of your specific monitoring data.
  • Maps and dashboards—visualizes your network using real-time maps with live status information.
  • Flexible alerting—supports SMS, email, push notification, and audio alarm.
  • Distributed monitoring—monitors several networks in different locations.
  • Cluster failover solution—allows failover tolerant monitoring.
  • Multiple user interfaces—desktop, mobile, and web.

To install PRTG, you only need a Windows computer with sufficient computing power. In addition, a cloud-based option known as PRTG Hosted Monitor is also available. The PRTG licensing model is based on sensors (parameters that can be monitored on a device such as CPU load, port status, or network traffic) and includes one year of free support and maintenance. Most devices require between five and ten sensors to be fully monitored.

If you are looking for a viable alternative to Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor is a great option to consider. Unlike PRTG which is much easier to set up and customize; the process for installing Zabbix involves lots of steps, which can be cumbersome for most users.

PRTG is available as freeware for up to 100 sensors. If you want to monitor more than 100 sensors, you will need to upgrade to a commercial version. If you don’t upgrade, the trial version automatically reverts to the free version after 30 days and you can continue using the free version without any time limit. You can register for a free 30-day-trial and test out your network requirements.

  • Customizable package

  • Offers traffic management as well as network device monitoring

  • Offers full stack monitoring

  • No patch manager

Paessler PRTG Start 30-day FREE Trial

5. Domotz (FREE TRIAL)

Domotz is a SaaS platform that offers monitoring of networks and endpoints and also provides software inventory maintenance. This package offers a few more services than Zabbix because it includes asset management functions as well as monitoring services. The package is able to monitor any network anywhere and can centralize the monitoring of multiple sites in one account.

  • Monitors multiple sites
  • Network discovery, inventory, and mapping
  • Live monitoring with SNMP

The monitoring console of Domotz is hosted in the cloud and you access it through any standard Web browser. When you enroll a network into the Domotz monitoring service, the system downloads an agent onto one of the servers on the site. This gathers network device status reports through SNMP processes and uploads data to the Domotz server.

The Domotz system includes an alerting package. Alerts can be triggered by SNMP device agent reports of faults or by performance thresholds on any of the metrics that the system monitors. Thanks to SNMP, Domotz is able to identify all of the devices on the network and how they interconnect. The tool compiles a network inventory and topology map from this information. With every SNMP report cycle, the inventory and map are updated.

The system includes the scanning of endpoints and the creation of a software inventory. You get an automated patch manager in this package along with other security services, such as port monitoring. The system also backs up network device configurations and periodically compares current setups to the stored images. If an unexpected change has occurred, the Domotz system restores the standard configuration from the backup.

The Domotz monitoring and management package is charged at a fixed fee per network, regardless of how many devices or users are on the system. You can access the Domotz platform for assessment with a 14-day free trial.

  • Automated remote monitoring for networks and endpoints

  • Asset inventory creation and network mapping

  • Security monitoring and device management

  • The free trial period is only 14 days

Domotz Access 14-day FREE Trial

6. Nagios

Nagios is a U.S-based company that delivers IT infrastructure monitoring and management software that enables organizations to identify and resolve problems before it gets out of hand. The product comes in two editions—Nagios Core and Nagios XI.

  • Free or paid versions
  • Extensible
  • Flexible on-site deployment

Nagios Core is an agent-based free and open-source application that monitors critical IT infrastructure components such as network devices, servers, applications, including network protocols and system metrics and resources. Some of the key network protocols and system resources monitored include:

  • Network protocols such as SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, ICMP, SNMP, FTP, SSH, and many more.
  • Host resources such as processor load, disk usage, system logs and more, using monitoring agents.
  • Hardware conditions such as temperature, alarms, and more

It alerts administrators when those critical components fail and also when they recover after the problem has been resolved. It runs on Linux and Windows operating systems. Some of the key features and capabilities include:

  • Comprehensive Monitoring—monitoring of all critical infrastructure components.
  • Problem Remediation—remediate failed network components, applications, and services when problems are found.
  • Proactive Planning—allows you to proactively plan for upgrades.
  • Multi-Tenant Capabilities—supports multi-user access and user-specific views.
  • Extendable Architecture—provides integration with third-party applications via APIs  and add-ons.
  • Awareness—deliver alerts to IT staff via email and SMS.
  • Visibility—gain visibility into your entire IT operations.
  • Reporting—up-to-date availability and historical reports, among others

Nagios XI on the other hand is an easy-to-use agentless commercial edition that is targeted at large networks and enterprises. It uses Nagios Core as its back-end alongside other technologies including a built-in web configuration GUI, which makes it much easier to manage than Nagios Core. If flexibility and extensibility are what you’re after in a network monitoring tool, then Nagios XI is the way to go. It includes graphs and reports, customizable dashboards, backend API, multi-tenancy, and many other advanced features that make it much easier to use.

7. Checkmk

  • Will run on Docker

  • A library of free plugins is available from the large user community

  • Covers networks, servers, and applications

  • The free version doesn’t have a proper user interface

Checkmk is one of the leading tools for IT infrastructure and application monitoring. It uses an agentless and agent-based approach to monitor the health of IT infrastructure such as networks, servers, applications, storage, cloud infrastructure, IoT devices, and even business processes.

  • Monitors networks, servers, and applications
  • On-premises and cloud server monitoring
  • Free version available

Checkmk combines the following types of IT infrastructure monitoring:

  • Status-based monitoring, which records the health of a device or application.
  • Metric-based monitoring enables the recording and analysis of time-series graphs.
  • Log-based and event-based monitoring, in which key events can be filtered out and actions can be triggered based on those events.

The Checkmk server can only be deployed on a Linux machine. A basic knowledge of Linux is all you need to get the application up and running. All the software you need is either included in your Linux distribution or in the Checkmk package. It is also possible to run Checkmk as a virtual appliance, a physical appliance, or as a Docker-Container. The agents used by Checkmk to monitor and collect data are supported on Windows and other operating systems. Checkmk is available in various editions. Before you begin installing it, you must first decide which of the editions you want to use. A breakdown of the available editions is as shown on Table 1.0 below.

The Free Standard Edition contains all of the features of the Standard Edition, and it’s unlimited for the first 30 days. Both the Free Standard Edition and the Raw Edition can be easily upgraded directly to the Standard Edition.

  • Can be used for security monitoring

  • Customizable searches of live event data

  • Autodiscovery of IT assets

  • Only available for Linux and Docker – no Windows version

8. Icinga

Icinga is a popular enterprise-grade open-source tool for IT infrastructure and application monitoring. It checks the availability of your network resources, notifies you of outages, and generates performance data for reporting. Icinga was originally created as a fork of the Nagios Core application in 2009. The goal is to improve upon the groundwork laid by Nagios, including the addition of new features and capabilities.

  • Monitoring of server components such as switches, routers, temperature and humidity sensors, and more
  • Simple plug-in design that allows users to easily develop their own service checks – Accepts Nagios plug-ins
  • Monitoring of network protocols such as SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, ping, and more
  • Monitoring of host resources such as CPU load, disk usage, and more
  • Notification, visualization and reporting
  • Free to use – Paid professional support packages

The application is scalable, extensible, and can monitor large networks that span multiple locations.

Icinga is made up of the following core products:

  • Icinga 2 (server)—this is the core of the Icinga monitoring application that runs on a Linux machine
  • Icinga Web 2—a web interface for users to view monitoring results and send commands to the Icinga Core
  • Icinga DB—a synchronisation daemon between Icinga 2 (Redis) and Icinga Web 2 (MySQL)
  • Icinga Director—the configuration deployment tool for Icinga 2

Icinga has been successfully deployed in large and complex environments with thousands of hosts and services, in distributed and failover setups.

9. Observium

  • Monitors networks, servers, and applications
  • Monitors cloud systems as well as on-premises infrastructure
  • Task automation

Observium is a powerful auto-discovering network monitoring platform that provides real-time network and infrastructure monitoring. Observium is designed to run on Linux but can also monitor Windows and also supports other platforms such as Cisco, Juniper, FreeBSD, Citrix Netscaler, NetApp and many more.

Some of the key features and capabilities include:

  • Support for a wide range of platforms and operating systems
  • Ability to poll and store measurements for billing
  • Streamline capacity and disaster recovery planning
  • Bypass traditional round-robin limitations
  • External integration and threshold alerting
  • Auto-Discovery and traffic accounting
  • Network inventory and mapping – Live status monitoring

It uses SNMP to collect data, which is then presented via a friendly web-based user interface. Since Apache and MySQL are prerequisites for installation of Observium, your server needs to meet the hardware requirements to run them.

Observium comes in different editions which are tailored to suit your network and server monitoring requirements as shown on Table 3.0 below:

Unlike other monitoring tools, Observium is easy to install and set up. If you are looking for a viable alternative to Zabbix, Observium is also a good option to consider. Unlike Zabbix, Observium is much easier to set up and customize even though it shares similar requirements. However, Observium does not run on Windows and has no data export.

10. NetXMS

  • Professional, easy-to-use dashboard

  • Network device health monitoring

  • Only available for Linux

NetXMS is an enterprise-grade multi-platform open-source network management and monitoring tool. NetXMS runs natively on both Windows and Linux/Unix-based operating systems and can be used to monitor your entire IT infrastructure including servers and applications.

  • Compatibility with Nagios plug-in compatibility (most Nagios plug-ins work out-of-box with NetXMS)
  • Monitoring of network devices, servers and applications from one management server – can monitor remote sites
  • Data collection either from SNMP-capable platforms or from native NetXMS agent
  • Centralized configuration and upgrades and Uses very low system resources
  • User-friendly Windows and Unix GUI management console
  • Automated network discovery for OSI layers 2 and 3
  • The ability to send e-mails and SMS notifications

NetXMS is capable of auto-discovering devices in your network and collects information from them using agents. The collected information is sent back to the NetXMS servers for processing and storage. Network administrators can access collected data using desktop, web or a mobile (Android) management console.

NetXMS is available for download free of charge. Check the administration manual for a detailed guide.

  • Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Unix

  • SNMP-based device status monitoring

  • Accepts Nagios plug-ins

  • Network mapping is not so hot

11. OpenNMS

OpenNMS is an open-source network management and monitoring tool developed and managed by the OpenNMS Group and a community of developers. The product  is 100% free with no licensing requirements. It prides itself as the first enterprise-grade network management platform developed under the open-source model. The business model is to offer it free of charge and earn revenue through consulting services provided by the OpenNMS Group.

  • Autodiscovery
  • SNMP based
  • Network mapping

OpenNMS is designed to be flexible, scalable and distributed, with the ability to manage tens of thousands of devices from a single server. OpenNMS runs natively on both Windows and Linux/Unix-based operating systems as long as Java SDK and PostgreSQL database is supported.

The following are the four main functional areas of OpenNMS:

  • Discovery and Provisioning—discovers and adds devices to the management system either manually or automatically.
  • Service Monitoring—determines if network-based services such as ICMP, HTTP, DNS are available.
  • Event Management and Notifications—receives events via SNMP, syslog and other methods and generates email, SMS and other forms of notification.
  • Data Collection—collects performance data for a number of network protocols such as SNMP, HTTP, JMX, WMI, and others.

OpenNMS is freely available for download via Sourceforge. Check the installation and administration manual for a detailed guide.

  • Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix
  • Free (Horizon) and paid (Meridian) versions
  • Can monitor very large networks

12. Pandora Flexible Monitoring Solution (FMS)

Pandora FMS is an all-in-one network monitoring tool. It uses an agentless and agent-based approach to monitor the health of IT infrastructure such as network, servers, applications, databases, and much more. Pandora FMS supports both on-premise or cloud deployment options.

Some of its key features and capabilities include:

  • Advanced availability reports, SLAs and capacity planning charts, and more
  • NetFlow for network capacity management and low-level performance
  • Monitoring of Windows and Linux/Unix computers with or without agents
  • Automated mapping of the network, allowing user to customize it
  • Detection of changes in network device configuration
  • Historical graphs for up to three years back
  • Auto-discovery of networks at level 2 and 3
  • Support for High availability setup

With Pandora FMS you will be able to supervise and analyze your entire IT infrastructure in a single view. Pandora FMS is supported in almost any operating system. However, Linux seems to be the preferred OS for installation.

The product is available in two editions:

  • Full stack monitoring

  • Network device monitoring and traffic analysis

  • Historical analysis feature

  • No patch management

  • Community edition: A 100% free and open-source version that is targeted at individuals and small businesses.

  • Enterprise edition: A fully functional premium version designed for businesses with large networks

Pandora FMS Community edition is available for download. A 30-day free trial of the Enterprise edition with full access to all the features is also available. The easiest way to install Pandora FMS is to use the ISO image, which contains a customized version of CentOS Linux with all the dependencies.

  • SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
  • Atera
  • ManageEngine OpManager
  • Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
  • Nagios
  • Checkmk
  • Icinga
  • Observium
  • NetXMS
  • OpenNMS
  • Pandora FMS