What is Icinga and how does it differ from Nagios?

Icinga forked from Nagios in 2009 to add modern features. Icinga 2 (2014) is a complete rewrite with REST API, web UI, and distributed monitoring. It is more modern than Nagios but still requires self-hosting and significant configuration.

Icinga core is open source and free. Enterprise OS packages (RHEL, SLES, Amazon Linux) require subscription beyond 20 hosts. PingZen is free forever as SaaS with unlimited monitors — no infrastructure needed.

Can Icinga replace PingZen?

Icinga can do basic uptime checks but requires hours of setup, server management, and plugin maintenance. PingZen is ready in 30 seconds with 22 protocols, modern dashboard, and status pages. Different complexity levels for different needs.

PingZen vs Icinga: SaaS Uptime Monitoring vs Modern Nagios Fork

Q: Should I use Icinga or PingZen?

Use both. PingZen for external uptime monitoring (SaaS, zero maintenance). Icinga for internal infrastructure monitoring (CPU, memory, disk). Together they cover external availability and internal health.

Icinga is an open-source infrastructure monitoring platform forked from Nagios in 2009. Completely rewritten as Icinga 2 (2014), it offers a modern web UI, REST API, distributed monitoring, and 2,000+ community plugins. Free for Debian/Ubuntu; enterprise OS packages require subscription beyond 20 hosts.

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Quick Comparison

Best Value

PingZen

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

Icinga

Price: Free (self-hosted) / Paid for enterprise OS
Intervals: Configurable (any)
Protocols: 20+ via plugins (HTTP, ICMP, TCP, DNS, SMTP, SSH, etc.)
Alerts: Email, SMS, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.

Feature Comparison

Feature Comparison
Feature	PingZen	Icinga
HTTP/HTTPS monitoring
TCP port monitoring
Ping (ICMP)
DNS monitoring
SSL certificate monitoring
SMTP monitoring
IMAP/POP3 monitoring
SSH monitoring
WebSocket monitoring
gRPC monitoring
WHOIS/Domain expiry
DNSBL monitoring
Server/infrastructure monitoring
Distributed monitoring
2,000+ plugins
REST API
Public status pages
No server required
Open source

Why Choose PingZen

Zero setup SaaS — no Icinga server, database, or web module to install
Ready in 30 seconds vs hours/days of configuration
Public status pages and incident management built-in
WebSocket, gRPC, WHOIS, DNSBL monitoring protocols
Team workspaces with role-based access
No plugins to install or maintain

When Icinga is Better

Complete infrastructure monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, network)
2,000+ community plugins for any check type
Distributed monitoring architecture for large environments
Self-hosted with full data control and customization
15+ years of battle-tested production use
SSH monitoring and server agent checks

Not sure about PingZen vs Icinga?

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Migration Tip

Use PingZen for external uptime monitoring (HTTP, SSL, DNS, WebSocket, gRPC) — zero setup, instant alerts. Keep Icinga for internal infrastructure monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, network). This gives you the best of both worlds.