head to head · open source
NetData vs Icinga
NetData has 80,561 GitHub stars, 6,630 forks, 393 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Icinga has 2,237 stars, 616 forks, 496 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NetData leads on adoption by 3,501% (80,561 vs 2,237 stars). NetData is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Icinga is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. NetData has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Icinga 28%. NetData was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (influxdb), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| NetData | Icinga | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 616 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NetData if
- You weight community size — 81K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Icinga if
- You want the Icinga feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Icinga fits your workflow better
About NetData
Netdata is an open source, real time infrastructure monitoring platform written in Go and released under GPL 3.0, built for operators and lean teams who need per second visibility across Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Windows systems.
read the full NetData overview →
About Icinga
Icinga is an open source monitoring system for complex IT infrastructure. It checks the availability of network resources, notifies users of outages, and generates performance data for reporting. The project sits in the Infrastructure & Operations / Monitoring & Observability ecosystem, and Icinga 2 is the monitoring server component of the broader Icinga stack.
read the full Icinga overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NetData or Icinga more popular?
NetData has 80,561 GitHub stars and Icinga has 2,237. NetData has the larger community by that measure.
Are NetData and Icinga free?
Both are open source. NetData is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Icinga under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NetData and Icinga?
NetData is written in Go and Icinga in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, NetData or Icinga?
Choose NetData if you want the larger community (80,561 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Icinga if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.