FortiMonitor vs Icinga comparison

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FortiMonitor

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Icinga and FortiMonitor compete in the network monitoring space. FortiMonitor seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and better customer support.

Features: Icinga offers open-source flexibility with customizable monitoring, scalability, and extensive plugin support. FortiMonitor includes advanced features like cloud analytics, AI-based problem detection, and comprehensive monitoring capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Icinga could improve with a less complex setup process, more intuitive user interface, and enhanced user guides. FortiMonitor might benefit from reduced pricing, additional customization options, and more plugin integrations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Icinga has a customizable deployment requiring technical knowledge for configuration. FortiMonitor provides a more streamlined deployment with straightforward setup and robust support options.

Pricing and ROI: Icinga offers a low-cost setup due to its open-source nature, but ongoing maintenance may increase costs. FortiMonitor involves a higher upfront cost, delivering better ROI through improved functionality and support.

To learn more, read our detailed FortiMonitor vs. Icinga Report (Updated: January 2025).

FortiMonitor vs. Icinga

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Helped 831,071 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

FortiMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

26th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

26th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Alerting and Incident Management (9th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (5th)

Icinga

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

18th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

14th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (7th), Cloud Monitoring Software (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Icinga is 3.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

LinhNguyen7

IT Manager at PTECH

Can be deployed with great ease by users

I work on your website, so I don't use FortiMonitor. However, I may start using the product again in the future since my company might have customers who demand it. I think its useful feature is its alarms because if some hacker hacks into our system, then users can get an SMS to their mobile phones. Users will come to know of issues immediately, and they will proceed with the security part.

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Harrison Bulley

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Net Consulting

A stable, scalable and cost-effective solution that helps with inbuilt scripts for easy modification

I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built.

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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

"In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic, blocked sites, and the health of our hardware. That last part, about knowing if something's going to fail soon, is super important. It gives us time to sort things out before any big problems happen. As a system engineer, I need to keep tabs on everything – temperature, monitoring systems, and network operations. This data is really handy because it helps me ensure our site runs smoothly, whether it's turning systems on or off. Just last night, there was a system failure, but thanks to real-time monitoring, I quickly identified the problem and got the necessary replacement parts."

"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is the overall ability to monitor the health of the environment."

"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."

"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."

"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."

"It provides the best firewall features."

"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."

More FortiMonitor pros

"Macros and the ability to connect it to Google Maps are valuable features."

"An affordable solution for small organizations to do basic network monitoring."

"There's a module called Icinga Director, which helps us configure the product using an intuitive interface through clicks instead of creating a text configuration. It's very helpful for us."

"I like the ability to amend and adjust things really easily, which is useful in a case where you could make it auto-discover and then set a template to say all of these applications or servers under this template have an automatic threshold set that you’d set up manually."

"The value of Icinga is that it has hundreds of plugins, so it's really easy to monitor pretty much anything."

"The best thing about the solution is how it highlights errors, the issues, and what needs my attention. The solution directs me to areas that I should look for first."

"The apply rules feature saves a lot of time."

"It is really easy in Icinga to create your own plugin and integrate it without any fuss. And it works just perfectly fine."

More Icinga pros

Cons

"The tool's price in Vietnam is high, making it an area of concern where improvements can be made."

"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."

"There are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."

". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."

More FortiMonitor cons

"The tool currently fails to provide notifications to users."

"In general, the product does not look good. However, it does what it is supposed to do. So, the improvements should focus on usability and UI."

"The installation and configuration are very complex."

"Icinga’s automation could be improved."

"Icinga is a complex solution that's hard to learn. It's a powerful product for monitoring, but new users will have a hard time figuring out what to do."

"I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built."

"One thing that Icinga lacks is the capability to create advanced and customized dashboards within the tool itself."

"At this time, the layout of the website is a bit difficult. It should be more user-friendly for changing the background and logos."

More Icinga cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"Even though Icinga's financial cost is low, it is an expensive product regarding the resources required to maintain and operate it."

"We're using the free version of Icinga."

"This is an open-source solution with paid support."

"It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low."

"The solution is free to use."

"The solution is cheap."

"The product is inexpensive compared to other DBM products."

"It's an open-source solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

What do you like most about FortiMonitor?

In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

The pricing is high, and it requires a one-time installment fee followed by a license payment, which is manageable annually or every three years.

What do you like most about Icinga?

The best thing about the solution is how it highlights errors, the issues, and what needs my attention. The solution directs me to areas that I should look for first.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Icinga?

It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low. If you want to include this product in the services you offer to your customers, the return on i...

What needs improvement with Icinga?

There is room for improvement in multi-tenancy. It's not perfect, not even really good. It's average, but it should be improved. For instance, multi-tenancy for monitoring the virtual infrastructur...

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Product Reports

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

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Download Icinga product report

Also Known As

Panopta

Icinga Cloud Monitoring

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Fortinet

Overview

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Icinga monitors systems, network devices, infrastructure, and services, helping manage and analyze server resources. It automates ticket incidents and alerting, providing oversight of client Windows and Linux systems.

Icinga offers comprehensive monitoring of servers including CPU utilization and RAM space, facilitating automated incident management and alerting. Frequently deployed on-premises, this monitoring tool is key for managed services providers and organizations to oversee and ensure optimal performance of various environments, including applications like databases and web servers. It provides extensive features for creating custom plugins, stabilization, scalability, and high customization capabilities suitable for different infrastructure needs.

What are the key features of Icinga?

Event Handler: Facilitates automatic self-healing of systems.
Extensive Plugin Library: Offers a wide range of plugins for monitoring.
Ease of Use: Simplifies user experience with an intuitive interface and Icinga Director for easy configurations.
Open-Source Nature: Free to use, modify, and distribute.
Automation Capabilities: Integrates with APIs and Ansible Collections for automation.
Custom Plugins: Users can create and integrate their own plugins.
Stability and Scalability: Provides reliable performance across different scale infrastructures.

What are the benefits or ROI to look for when evaluating Icinga?

Critical Issue Highlighting: Effectively identifies and notifies about critical problems.
High Customization: Offers flexibility for diverse monitoring needs.
Automated Alerting: Reduces manual effort and improves response times.
Extensive Integration: Works seamlessly with other tools and platforms.

Icinga implementations span multiple industries, providing essential monitoring for IT infrastructure in healthcare, finance, and education. Managed services providers utilize Icinga to maintain and monitor client systems across various environments while ensuring optimal performance and compliance. It is highly valued in these sectors for its ability to customize monitoring, improving operational efficiency and reducing downtime.

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Puppet Labs, Audi, Spacex, Debian, Snapdeal, McGill, RIPE Network Coordination Centre

FortiMonitor vs. Icinga