Checkmk Raw Edition is free for up to 750 services (~25 hosts, averaging 30 services per host). Enterprise features require paid licensing. PingZen is free forever with unlimited monitors and all 22 protocols.

How does Checkmk compare to PingZen?

Checkmk is an enterprise infrastructure monitoring tool with auto-discovery and 2,000+ plugins. PingZen is a focused uptime monitoring SaaS with 22 protocols. Checkmk is for full IT infrastructure; PingZen is for website/API uptime.

What is a Checkmk service?

A service in Checkmk is one monitored metric: CPU load, disk space, port traffic, etc. Typically 5-10 services per device. The free tier allows 750 services — about 25 devices. PingZen counts monitors, not individual metrics.

Should I use Checkmk or PingZen?

For uptime monitoring (is my website up?), PingZen is simpler and free. For infrastructure monitoring (CPU, memory, SNMP devices, cloud), Checkmk is more comprehensive. Many teams use both.

PingZen vs Checkmk: Simple Uptime Monitoring vs Enterprise IT Monitoring

Checkmk is a comprehensive IT infrastructure monitoring platform founded in 2008. Originally based on Nagios, it evolved into a complete monitoring system with auto-discovery, 2,000+ vendor-maintained plugins, and support for millions of services. Free Raw Edition supports up to 750 services (~25 hosts).

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Quick Comparison

Best Value

PingZen

Price: Free forever
Intervals: 30 seconds
Protocols: 22 protocols
Alerts: 12+ channels

Checkmk

Price: Free (750 services) / Enterprise pricing
Intervals: Configurable (1 min default)
Protocols: All via 2,000+ plugins
Alerts: Email, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.

Feature Comparison

Feature Comparison
Feature	PingZen	Checkmk
HTTP/HTTPS monitoring
TCP port monitoring
Ping (ICMP)
DNS monitoring
SSL certificate monitoring
SMTP monitoring
SNMP monitoring
WebSocket monitoring
gRPC monitoring
WHOIS/Domain expiry
DNSBL monitoring
Auto-discovery
Server/network monitoring
2,000+ plugins
SNMP device monitoring
Public status pages
Incident management
No server required

Why Choose PingZen

Zero setup SaaS — no Checkmk server to install or manage
Unlimited free monitors vs 750 services (~25 hosts) free
Public status pages and incident management built-in
WebSocket, gRPC, WHOIS, DNSBL protocols
Ready in 30 seconds — no agents or auto-discovery needed
Simple pricing vs service-based licensing complexity

When Checkmk is Better

Complete infrastructure monitoring (servers, network, cloud, containers)
Auto-discovery finds all devices and services automatically
2,000+ vendor-maintained plugins
SNMP monitoring for network devices (routers, switches)
Scales to millions of services across hundreds of sites
Both self-hosted and cloud (SaaS) options

Not sure about PingZen vs Checkmk?

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Migration Tip

Checkmk is overkill for uptime monitoring alone — it is designed for full infrastructure monitoring. Use PingZen for external uptime monitoring (zero setup, 22 protocols) and consider Checkmk only if you also need to monitor servers, network devices, and cloud infrastructure.