Checkmk vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring comparison

Checkmk and Instana are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Checkmk is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5, while Instana is ranked #33 with an average rating of 9.5. Checkmk holds a 3.6% mindshare in IM, compared to Instana’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Instana users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

3,357 Views
2,987 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

Read 2 Instana Infrastructure Monitoring reviews

603 Views
526 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Checkmk

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Instana Infrastructure Monitoring and Checkmk compete in infrastructure monitoring. Checkmk has the upper hand due to its robust feature set and perceived value, despite Instana's favorable pricing and support.

Features: Instana emphasizes real-time data collection and comprehensive analytics, suitable for dynamic environments needing immediate insights. It also provides automation capabilities to enhance monitoring efficiency and offers seamless integration with various tools for improved workflow. Checkmk stands out with flexible configuration options and extensive monitoring capabilities, allowing in-depth metrics for different IT assets. It features customizable dashboards for personalized data views and supports distributed monitoring for large infrastructures.

Room for Improvement: Instana could enhance customization options allowing users more tailored configuration for diverse needs. Expanding third-party integration support could also be beneficial. Improving scalability options for larger enterprises would be advantageous. Checkmk might consider simplifying its setup process to reduce deployment time. Enhancing real-time analytics for better immediate insights could add value. Streamlining user interface complexities may improve user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Instana provides a streamlined deployment model and strong customer support, making implementation straightforward in most environments. Checkmk requires a more involved setup process due to its extensive configuration capabilities, supported by various customer service options that allow for deeper customization.

Pricing and ROI: Instana offers competitive pricing with straightforward ROI for businesses benefiting from advanced real-time monitoring capabilities. Checkmk requires a higher initial setup investment but delivers substantial ROI through adaptable monitoring features. Its expansive capabilities justify the initial cost for organizations seeking long-term scalability and performance insights.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

February 2025

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Helped 842,466 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Checkmk

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

13th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (12th), Server Monitoring (6th)

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

33rd

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

25th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 3.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is 0.5%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Paolo Sala

Application performance and System monitoring at Agos

A reasonably priced tool for system and application monitoring

The main room for improvement is in the solution's presentation and the integration area. In our company, we use the integration capabilities from ServiceNow. We also have another big monitoring solution in place in our company, which is Dynatrace. At the moment, there doesn't exist an out-of-the-box integration for Dynatrace. I think that the integration and the exporting of the data collected are areas where Checkmk lacks but should try to improve the most. The only implementation of Checkmk that allows high availability is the virtual appliance that has the option for the availability of a different box. Otherwise, you have to find a way to implement it manually with some custom solution, which could be an improvement.

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Hakimuddin Ronaque

Assistant Manager at Lauren Information Technologies Pvt Ltd

Has the capability to automatically integrate with a large number of products

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I have not worked much on other technologies, like SAP or VMware's virtualization part, on-prem infrastructure, or cloud infrastructure. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is so fast and easy to adapt that it works fine. I have not explored other operating systems or infrastructure solutions because my company doesn't have that customer scale. Most of our customers are on-prem or on AWS or Azure, but Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to their infrastructure very well. My company came to know how well Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to our customers' infrastructures when we take care of the PoC phase. Around 12 to 15 people in my company use the product.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Checkmk helps me compare data and foresee issues."

"Overall, from one to ten, I rate Checkmk a nine."

"Checkmk was built on a platform that was user-friendly, and I could build my charts easily."

"It's versatile, scalable, and easier to use compared to other solutions like Nagios and OMD."

"The alerting system in Checkmk really works properly."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it has a lot of different pieces, and they all work together...It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

"The most valuable features of Checkmk are its resource monitoring, infra monitoring, and log factor configuration."

More Checkmk pros

"The product is easy to deploy."

"The product's initial setup is easy."

Cons

"Sometimes we receive alerts, and it can become annoying when you acknowledge an alert. It is very clunky when you acknowledge the alert. The process is not very intuitive, and there are instances where it feels a bit cumbersome to acknowledge an alert."

"I think that the integration and the exporting of the data collected are areas where Checkmk lacks but should try to improve the most."

"If an alert is generated for a specific pattern in the log, and if Checkmk catches that log, it will stay there even after the alert is resolved."

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

"The main challenge for us is that we're moving from Nagios to Checkmk, and we're still getting used to the new way of working."

"It is easy for tech-savvy people, but newcomers might find it intimidating."

"Checkmk does not work too easily with the PowerStore. I use a PowerShell script as Checkmk runs on Linux and a Windows system, connecting with the Checkmk agent."

"In Checkmk, the documentation can probably be improved a bit more."

More Checkmk cons

"Instana Infrastructure Monitoring needs to support monitoring of the .NET framework since it is one of the areas where the solution currently has shortcomings."

"The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is affordable."

"The price of Checkmk is cheaper compared to other enterprise products."

"Checkmk is a fairly reasonably priced solution."

"The cost of the tool is around 130 USD per month."

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842,466 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Checkmk?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it has a lot of different pieces, and they all work together...It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Checkmk?

I frequently program functions with PowerShell, and although Bash could be used, my specialization is in PowerShell. Two of us focus on programming in PowerShell for infrastructure optimization. I ...

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What is your primary use case for Checkmk?

Currently, I use two Dell PowerStore systems, and I'm responsible for disposing of systems in our environment. We need to upgrade our systems, but we are working on less pressing issues. Right now,...

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What do you like most about Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

The product is easy to deploy.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

I use the solution in my company, especially if an application is down and it is considered to be a P1 issue or a critical issue. The network team will blame the application team, while the applica...

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 43% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 17% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 14% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

March 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

March 2025

Instana Infrastructure Monitoring report

Download Instana Infrastructure Monitoring product report

Overview

Checkmk is a powerful tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, providing vital insights on servers, databases, network devices, and custom applications.

Primarily used for supervising IT infrastructure, Checkmk helps organizations ensure service availability by monitoring hosts, processes, load, storage, and network appliances. With support for both Linux and Windows environments across multiple data centers, Checkmk performs compliance checks and preserves historical data for core network devices.

What are the key features of Checkmk?

Auto-discovery: Automatically identifies new hosts and applies monitoring rules.
Custom monitoring: Enhances MySQL performance tracking.
Slack integration: Provides immediate downtime alerts.
Graphical trend analysis: Offers 400 days of trend data.
Multiple site monitoring: Ensures seamless data synchronization through task automation.
Resource and infrastructure monitoring: Configures log factors to fit budget constraints.
System metric imports: Includes servers, SQL, file systems, and application monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Time-saving: Auto-discovery and task automation streamline processes.
Proactive alerts: Immediate downtime notifications optimize response times.
Historical insights: Long-term graphical trend analysis aids strategic planning.
Cost efficiency: Resource monitoring aligned with budget constraints.

Checkmk is deployed extensively in large enterprise environments for monitoring critical infrastructure. It proves particularly useful under conditions of frequent power outages or network issues, helping maintain smooth operations. While the alert acknowledgment process and interface require improvements, and the lack of an agent-less platform complicates server management, the strengths in auto-discovery, integration, and comprehensive monitoring make Checkmk a strong contender for IT infrastructure monitoring.

Checkmk

Instana ensures that your application delivery organization has the data, visibility and information they need to manage the performance of critical business applications across the DevOps lifecycle. Built to handle the dynamic nature of containerized, microservice architectures, Instana automates infrastructure and application monitoring helping you to ensure the performance and quality of custom applications and accelerate your CI/CD cycle.

Instana

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

booxware, drivenow, scopevisio, enevo, TimoCom, mobitech

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

February 2025

Free Report: Checkmk vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

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