Checkmk vs Datadog comparison

Checkmk and Datadog are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Checkmk is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.5, while Datadog is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7. Checkmk holds a 5.4% mindshare in CMS, compared to Datadog’s 8.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Datadog users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

4,452 Views
3,072 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Datadog

Read 188 Datadog reviews

23,433 Views
7,499 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Checkmk

Datadog

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Datadog and Checkmk compete in the monitoring tools category. Datadog appears to have an edge in environments requiring complex and extensive feature integration, while Checkmk is more straightforward and cost-effective for smaller operations.

Features: Datadog provides hosted monitoring, shareable dashboards, and diverse integrations. It offers anomaly detection and visualization capabilities that cater well to complex environments. In contrast, Checkmk stands out for its auto-discovery features and seamless integration that simplify setup for small to medium enterprises without requiring intricate infrastructure.

Room for Improvement: Datadog could enhance data representation and dashboard customization, and improve real-time query building and technical support. Checkmk may benefit from expanding broader integrations and documentation improvements while simplifying its interface and adopting predictive monitoring capabilities to boost user accessibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Datadog supports deployments across cloud environments but faces mixed reviews in customer service, especially in specific regions. Checkmk offers straightforward on-premises deployment and is viewed as affordable, yet its support could be more intuitive.

Pricing and ROI: Datadog has a complex pricing model perceived as expensive, but its feature customization offers a good cost-benefit for large enterprises. Checkmk, conversely, provides competitive pricing, making it appealing for budget-sensitive organizations. Both tools offer high ROI by improving operational efficiencies and reducing downtime.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. Datadog Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Datadog

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,759 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 Network Monitoring Software

14th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

24th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

16th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (8th)

Datadog

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

4th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

3rd

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

188

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (1st), Log Management (4th), Container Monitoring (2nd), AIOps (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 5.4%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Datadog is 8.5%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Datadog	8.5%
Checkmk	5.4%
Other	86.1%

Cloud Monitoring Software

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.

Read full review

reviewer820579

Senior Product Manager at Redfin Corp

Single pane of glass, easy to share dashboards, and good for monitoring

We've had some issues where we had Datadog automatically turned on in AWS regions that we weren't using, which incurred a small but steady cost that amounted to tens of thousands of dollars spent over a few weeks. I wish there was a global setting that lets an admin restrict which regions DD is turned on in as a default setup step. Sometimes, the APM service dashboard link isn't sharable. I click something in the service catalog, and on that service's APM default view, I try to share a link to that with a teammate, and they reach a blank or error screen. I wish there was more organization and detail in the suggestions when I use the query editor. I'm never quite sure when the autofill dropdown shows up if I'm seeing some custom tag or some default property, so I have to know exactly what I'm looking for in order to build a chart. It's hard to navigate and explore using the query autofill suggestions without knowing exactly what tag to look for. It's been a bit hard to understand how data gets sampled or how many data points a particular dashboard value is using. We've had questions over the RUM metrics that we see and we had to ask for help with how values are calculated, bin sizes, etc to get confidence in our data.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

"The initial setup of Checkmk was easy...It is a very stable solution."

"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."

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

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

"The alerting system in Checkmk really works properly."

"We can monitor multiple sites using the product."

"Checkmk helps me compare data and foresee issues."

More Checkmk pros

"The pricing model makes more sense than what we paid for against other competitors."

"Its integration is most valuable because you can integrate it with various service providers such as AWS, .Net, etc."

"It is great that creating an incident is possible from Slack while having all the relevant data in Datadog."

"Profiling has been made easier."

"Datadog dashboards are pretty great."

"Real user monitoring gives us invaluable insights into actual user experiences, helping us prioritize improvements where they matter most."

"Excellent autocomplete for everything in the UI."

"It has scaled great. I haven't run into any problems anywhere that I've used it. They have handled everything that we have needed them to."

More Datadog pros

Cons

"Checkmk does not allow running scripts at varying intervals."

"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."

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

More Checkmk cons

"The documentation leaves a lot to be desired for new users."

"We want to reduce having to go to different screens to obtain all the information."

"There are some areas on log filtering screens where the user interface can take some getting used to."

"Since the Datadog platform has so many separate features, solving so many use cases, there are often inconsistencies in feature availability and interoperability between products."

"I've found that the documentation is lacking in certain regards."

"It is far too easy to run up huge unexpected costs."

"Datadog could be improved if it could detect other software in a container or server."

"The installation is easy for me. However, if you are new to this solution it might not be so easy."

More Datadog cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Checkmk is a fairly reasonably priced solution."

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

"The product is affordable."

"It has always scaled for us. Cost scales up too, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It's reasonable for what they're providing."

"The pricing came up a bit compared to their competitors. It is not that the price has risen, but that the competitors have gone down. They keep adding more features that I would have expected to be baked in at a more nominal price. I have been increasingly dissatisfied with the pricing, but not enough to jump ship."

"Pricing seemed easy until the bill came in and some things were not accounted for."

"It is easy to run up a large bill, so become familiar with the cost of each piece of your bill and use the metrics they supply to estimate and monitor your bill."

"Pricing is somewhat affordable compared to other solutions but in order to really lower the costs of other products you need to plan very carefully your resources usage, otherwise, it can get expensive real quick."

"Pricing and licensing are reasonable for what they give you. You get the first five hosts free, which is fun to play around with. Then it's about four dollars a month per host, which is very affordable for what you get out of it. We have a lot of hosts that we put a lot of custom metrics into, and every host gives you an allowance for the number of custom metrics."

"While it is an expensive product, I would rate the pricing level at four out of five."

"The tool is open-source."

More Datadog pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	78
Midsize Enterprise	42
Large Enterprise	82

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 will get more information about Checkmk when the proof of concept is done. It's going to be before the summer. There will be a report about the tool and a recommendation to use it. So far, it loo...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Checkmk?

Checkmk ( /products/checkmk-reviews ) is a monitoring tool, so that's what I will use it for. Right now, it's not in production, but it's in a proof of concept phase. It looks good, so probably, du...

See all answers

Any advice about APM solutions?

There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...

See all answers

Datadog vs ELK: which one is good in terms of performance, cost and efficiency?

With Datadog, we have near-live visibility across our entire platform. We have seen APM metrics impacted several times lately using the dashboards we have created with Datadog; they are very good c...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Datadog or Dynatrace?

Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Datadog or Dynatrace network monitoring software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Dynatrace. Dynatrace offers network ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zabbix vs Checkmk

Compared 41% of the time

LibreNMS vs Checkmk

Compared 9% of the time

Icinga vs Checkmk

Compared 8% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Checkmk

Compared 5% of the time

Elastic Observability vs Checkmk

Compared 2% of the time

More Checkmk Competitors

Dynatrace vs Datadog

Compared 11% of the time

Azure Monitor vs Datadog

Compared 8% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Datadog

Compared 5% of the time

New Relic vs Datadog

Compared 4% of the time

AWS X-Ray vs Datadog

Compared 4% of the time

More Datadog Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

September 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

Datadog

September 2025

Download Datadog product report

Overview

Checkmk provides a comprehensive monitoring solution designed to streamline IT infrastructure management with features like auto-discovery, custom checks, and effective alerting.

Checkmk serves as a powerful tool for organizations managing large networks of servers, databases, and network appliances across multiple locations. It simplifies monitoring tasks with features like auto-discovery, custom scripting, and Slack integration. Users benefit from its resource monitoring capabilities and scalability, although there are areas for improvement, such as alert acknowledgment and greater usability. It supports both Linux and Windows environments, enabling effective oversight of IT infrastructure. The growing body of documentation enhances its adaptability in complex settings.

What are the key features of Checkmk?

Auto-Discovery: Identifies new hosts and applies monitoring rules automatically.
Custom Monitoring Checks: Tailor checks for databases and specific applications.
Slack Integration: Receive downtime alerts directly in Slack channels.
Automation for Scripts: Streamline repetitive tasks with scripts.
Effective Alerting System: Offers timely notifications on network activities.

What benefits can users expect?

Resource Efficiency: Saves time on configuration with automated features.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing network and system requirements.
Cost-Effectiveness: Suitable option for budget-conscious users.
User-Friendly Setup: Easy to configure, reducing the learning curve.

Industries deploying Checkmk frequently utilize it for monitoring IT infrastructure, including servers and network appliances, to manage proactive issue identification and compliance. Companies employ it in the proof of concept phase or for ongoing monitoring, covering hosts, services, and custom application metrics.

Checkmk

Datadog integrates extensive monitoring solutions with features like customizable dashboards and real-time alerting, supporting efficient system management. Its seamless integration capabilities with tools like AWS and Slack make it a critical part of cloud infrastructure monitoring.

Datadog offers centralized logging and monitoring, making troubleshooting fast and efficient. It facilitates performance tracking in cloud environments such as AWS and Azure, utilizing tools like EC2 and APM for service management. Custom metrics and alerts improve the ability to respond to issues swiftly, while real-time tools enhance system responsiveness. However, users express the need for improved query performance, a more intuitive UI, and increased integration capabilities. Concerns about the pricing model's complexity have led to calls for greater transparency and control, and additional advanced customization options are sought. Datadog's implementation requires attention to these aspects, with enhanced documentation and onboarding recommended to reduce the learning curve.

What are Datadog's Key Features?

Sharable Dashboards: Facilitate collaboration with customizable, intuitive dashboards.
Extensive Integrations: Seamlessly connects with tools like Slack and AWS to support workflows.
APM and RUM: Provides deep insights into application performance and user interactions.
Real-Time Tools: Enables agile responses to system issues with real-time monitoring.
Unified Tagging and Visualization: Eases management of complex systems with simplified visualization.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Look For?

Efficient Troubleshooting: Centralized logging speeds up the identification and resolution of issues.
Streamlined Workflows: Integrations with popular tools enhance operational efficiency.
Improved Observability: Comprehensive monitoring improves system reliability and performance.
Resource Optimization: Efficient microservices and container management leads to better cloud resource utilization.
Responsive Alerts: Customizable alerts ensure timely identification of critical issues.

In industries like finance and technology, Datadog is implemented for its monitoring capabilities across cloud architectures. Its ability to aggregate logs and provide a unified view enhances reliability in environments demanding high performance. By leveraging real-time insights and integration with platforms like AWS and Azure, organizations in these sectors efficiently manage their cloud infrastructures, ensuring optimal performance and proactive issue resolution.

Datadog

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Adobe, Samsung, facebook, HP Cloud Services, Electronic Arts, salesforce, Stanford University, CiTRIX, Chef, zendesk, Hearst Magazines, Spotify, mercardo libre, Slashdot, Ziff Davis, PBS, MLS, The Motley Fool, Politico, Barneby's

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Datadog

September 2025

Free Report: Checkmk vs. Datadog

Find out what your peers are saying about Checkmk vs. Datadog and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Checkmk vs. Datadog report.

See our list of best Cloud Monitoring Software vendors, best Network Monitoring Software vendors, and best IT Infrastructure Monitoring vendors.

We monitor all Cloud Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.