Amazon CloudWatch vs Icinga comparison

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Amazon CloudWatch

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Icinga and Amazon CloudWatch are monitoring solutions competing in the IT infrastructure monitoring category. Based on data comparisons, Amazon CloudWatch has the upper hand in integration capabilities and advanced analytics, while Icinga is preferred for customizable monitoring options.

Features: Icinga offers adaptable monitoring with extensive plugin support, network monitoring flexibility, and a strong event handler for automated responses. Amazon CloudWatch integrates seamlessly with AWS services, provides robust analytics, and offers detailed metrics collection.

Room for Improvement: Icinga could enhance its user-friendly interface, simplify initial setup, and improve detailed performance analytics. Amazon CloudWatch could reduce its cost barrier, improve documentation clarity for non-AWS infrastructures, and expand its features beyond the AWS ecosystem.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon CloudWatch features a simplified deployment within AWS environments and extensive support documentation. Icinga requires a more involved setup process, but benefits from an active open-source community offering support and customization guidance.

Pricing and ROI: Icinga is cost-effective with no licensing fees, appealing for budget-conscious users. Amazon CloudWatch employs a pay-as-you-go model, offering comprehensive integration at potentially higher costs, providing significant ROI for AWS-centric operations.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. Icinga Report (Updated: December 2025).

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Icinga

December 2025

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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

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (13th), Log Management (15th)

Icinga

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

23rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (25th), Server Monitoring (13th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (30th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 2.0%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Icinga is 3.1%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	2.0%
Icinga	3.1%
Other	94.9%

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Has provided reliable monitoring and alerting through extensive metric tracking and dashboard configuration

Amazon CloudWatch itself provides a lot of data. However, for visualization, we need to use third-party tools. We are in a process of integrating Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus to have better visualization on Amazon CloudWatch. We are also integrating Grafana with the application itself to get the application data and logs. Alternatively, there is AWS Kinesis and Glue where you can scrape the logs and have visualization, but a more easy option is Grafana. If you want to get a proper visual representation to see what is happening, then you need to integrate a third-party tool. Amazon CloudWatch has all the data, but to see what is happening, you need some third-party tool.

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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

"I can put it in a simple term, its simplicity is always there."

"The solution offers very detailed metrics for their services."

"The detection is the most valuable feature."

"The monitoring features are valuable."

"CloudWatch provides essential monitoring capabilities that integrate seamlessly with other AWS services."

"You can enable alarms and metrics, and it has robust integration with AWS services. You can also trigger events. For example, if the CPU utilization is above 80%, it can launch a new instance for you."

"CloudWatch immediately hooks up and connects to the KPIs and all the metrics."

"It offers direct integrations with various storage providers, making it convenient to push logs from CloudWatch to these external platforms."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

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

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

"The ability to customize scripts and build your own queries to request information from the infrastructure elements you want to monitor. This level of personalization and customization is highly appreciated."

"We have found the solution to be stable."

"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."

"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."

"Icinga does the job and is fairly stable."

"Icinga has multiple automation and integration features. There is an API for everything and a web UI for configurations. The APIs enable you to automate tasks in Icinga. We can also use plugins to talk to the API. The Icinga Director talks to a database in the background, and you can import settings from the CMDB to all systems in Icinga."

More Icinga pros

Cons

"Amazon CloudWatch needs improvement. The main thing is we have noticed missing logs."

"The product should provide more features."

"The drill-down aspect on the dashboard of the solution needs improvement. We get a very good high-level overview, but when we drill down, it becomes a little less clear. We have given this feedback to AWS as well and hope they will improve this in the future."

"Better reporting is always something needed. That could be an answer to just about anything. But you always want better reporting, better dashboards, things that are just more dynamic and more accessible."

"When customers want to see the CPU or memory utilization there is a cost. This should be free to see the utilization."

"The solution could benefit from a price decrease."

"Adding conditional expressions would enhance its functionality."

"For monitoring applications or for APM, CloudWatch has some limitations. You cannot monitor application performance from CloudWatch, and you have to go for a third-party tool."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"One of the areas that are frustrating is remote monitoring for more than one machine."

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

"Icinga’s automation could be improved."

"The solution lacks many features important to higher-level IT management and network support."

"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."

"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."

"It needs Trap SNMP. I saw the documentation for Zabbix, that it has its own built-in product which handles SNMP traps, and there's nothing similar in Icinga or Nagios. I think this feature is most important for me."

More Icinga cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It’s an open-source solution."

"What's were using is the free service of Amazon CloudWatch, so they're not charging us. As for hidden fees, we're not aware of them because we're using what our clients provided us."

"Amazon CloudWatch has very cheap pricing, and it hardly costs my company $25-$30 a month for fifty systems, so it's pretty affordable."

"The pricing is average."

"Its pricing is reasonable. It is sometimes tricky, but it is reasonable as compared to others."

"The pricing model is pay-as-you-go so you have to be mindful of usage to manage costs."

"The tool is not expensive."

"It is a free-of-charge service."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"The solution is cheap."

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

"The solution is free to use."

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

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

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

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

"It's an open-source solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Transportation Company

Educational Organization

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon CloudWatch?

The monitoring features are valuable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon CloudWatch?

No specific setup costs were mentioned.

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

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...

What is your primary use case for Icinga?

We use Icinga as a monitoring solution to monitor customers' infrastructures. We work as a managed service provider, so we offer monitoring and many other services to our customers. So we use it in...

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Comparisons

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Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 5% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 27% of the time

Nagios Core vs Icinga

Compared 12% of the time

Checkmk vs Icinga

Compared 8% of the time

Nagios XI vs Icinga

Compared 5% of the time

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs Icinga

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Amazon CloudWatch

January 2026

Download Icinga product report

January 2026

Also Known As

No data available

Icinga Cloud Monitoring

Overview

Amazon CloudWatch integrates seamlessly with AWS, providing real-time monitoring and alerting features. Its interface supports task automation, enhancing troubleshooting and analytics capabilities, while offering strong security and scalability at a cost-effective rate.

Amazon CloudWatch is an impactful platform for monitoring AWS resources and managing application performance. It simplifies infrastructure performance monitoring by providing comprehensive analytics capabilities, including application insights and event scheduling. Users appreciate CloudWatch for its detailed metrics, dashboards, and support in issuing alerts to detect anomalies. It efficiently tracks performance, optimizes resource utilization, and ensures service availability. CloudWatch is recognized for its robust alerting features and integration with other AWS services, further supporting its resource monitoring capabilities. However, there is room for improvement in dashboard customization, log streaming speed, and integration with non-AWS services. Enhancements in API integration, machine learning features, and support for third-party tools are also desired.

What features does Amazon CloudWatch offer?

Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with AWS for cohesive service management.
Advanced Metrics: Provides detailed monitoring of CPU, memory, and more.
Real-time Monitoring: Offers up-to-the-minute alerts on infrastructure status.
Dashboards: User-friendly and informative for quick insights.
Automation: Supports task automation for efficient troubleshooting.

What benefits does Amazon CloudWatch provide?

Cost-effectiveness: Efficient resource monitoring without high costs.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing infrastructure needs.
Security: Strong protocols for safe monitoring activities.
Improved Performance: Enhances application insights and operational efficiency.
Operational Insights: Provides comprehensive logging and performance analysis.

Industries implementing Amazon CloudWatch often focus on optimizing IT infrastructure. Companies in sectors like finance and e-commerce rely on its monitoring and alerting capabilities to ensure service uptime and performance. The platform's automation and analytics features empower teams to proactively manage performance and detect potential issues promptly.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Icinga is a robust tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, known for its distributed monitoring capabilities and seamless integration with multiple platforms. It efficiently observes servers, network devices, and environments like Linux and Windows, enabling proactive issue identification and resource management.

With a focus on task delegation and clustering, Icinga offers an intuitive interface through its GUI and Icinga Director, simplifying configuration. The extensive plugin library supports diverse technologies, while the API allows automation with tools like Terraform and Ansible. Despite its strengths, users report challenges with data display in the GUI, a need for improved dashboards, and complex configuration processes. Users benefit from its SNMP alerts, email notifications, and automated incident handling, making it essential for managed service environments and enterprises.

What are the key features of Icinga?

Task Delegation: Streamlines monitoring tasks across distributed systems.
Event Handler: Enables automatic service recovery with minimal intervention.
Plugin Library: Offers extensive support for integrating diverse technologies.
API Accessibility: Facilitates automation with popular tools like Terraform.
Custom Plugins: Allows easy creation and personalization for monitoring needs.

What benefits should you consider in Icinga reviews?

Flexibility: Tailors monitoring to specific requirements with community support.
Scalability: Successfully manages growing infrastructure demands.
Proactivity: Enhances issue identification and resource allocation.
Integration: Seamlessly works with existing IT operations platforms.

Icinga is widely adopted in IT environments for monitoring servers, networks, and applications across industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology. Its ability to integrate with various operating systems and automation platforms makes it a versatile choice for industries prioritizing comprehensive surveillance and proactive management of their infrastructure.

Sample Customers

AirAsia, Airbnb, Aircel, APUS, Avazu, Casa & Video, Futbol Club Barcelona (FCBarcelona), National Taiwan University, redBus

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