head to head · open source
Uptime Kuma vs Icinga
Uptime Kuma has 93,190 GitHub stars, 8,655 forks, 805 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Icinga has 2,245 stars, 622 forks, 496 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Uptime Kuma leads on adoption by 4,051% (93,190 vs 2,245 stars). Uptime Kuma is written in JavaScript under MIT; Icinga is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Uptime Kuma has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Icinga 28%. Uptime Kuma was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (monitoring), 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
| Uptime Kuma | Icinga | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 93K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.7K | ⑂ 622 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Uptime Kuma if
- You weight community size — 93K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 Uptime Kuma
Uptime Kuma Uptime Kuma is an easy to use self hosted monitoring tool. 🥔 Live Demo Try it! Demo Server (Location: Frankfurt Germany): It is a temporary live demo, all data will be deleted after 10 minutes. Sponsored by Uptime Kuma Sponsors. ⭐ Features Monitoring uptime for HTTP(s) / TCP / HTTP(s) Keyword / HTTP(s) Json Query / Websocket / Ping / DNS Record / Push / Steam Game Server / Docker Containers Fancy, Reactive, Fast UI/UX Notifications via Telegram, Discord, Gotify, Slack, Pushover, Email (SMTP), and 90+ notification services, click here for the full list 20 second intervals Multi Languages Multiple…
read the full Uptime Kuma overview →
About Icinga
Icinga 2 Table of Contents 1. [About][About] 2. [Installation][Installation] 3. [Documentation][Documentation] 4. [Support][Support] 5. [License][License] 6. [Contributing][Contributing] About Icinga is a monitoring system which checks the availability of your network resources, notifies users of outages, and generates performance data for reporting. Scalable and extensible, Icinga can monitor large, complex environments across multiple locations. Icinga 2 is the monitoring server and requires Icinga Web 2 on top in your Icinga Stack. The configuration can be easily managed with either the Icinga Director…
read the full Icinga overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Uptime Kuma or Icinga more popular?
Uptime Kuma has 93,190 GitHub stars and Icinga has 2,245. Uptime Kuma has the larger community by that measure.
Are Uptime Kuma and Icinga free?
Both are open source. Uptime Kuma is licensed under MIT and Icinga under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Uptime Kuma and Icinga?
Uptime Kuma is written in JavaScript 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, Uptime Kuma or Icinga?
Choose Uptime Kuma if you want the larger community (93,190 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Icinga if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.