Checkmk vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

Checkmk and Progress Software are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Checkmk is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.4, while Progress Software is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.5. Checkmk holds a 3.8% mindshare in NMS, compared to Progress Software’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

3,637 Views
3,176 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

WhatsUp Gold

Read 24 WhatsUp Gold reviews

1,786 Views
1,428 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Checkmk

WhatsUp Gold

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

WhatsUp Gold and Checkmk are both prominent network monitoring solutions. Checkmk is seen as a superior product due to its extensive features, with users considering it worth the price.

Features: WhatsUp Gold offers comprehensive network discovery, easy-to-use data mapping, and robust reporting capabilities. Checkmk provides extensive plugins, superior customization options, and advanced monitoring for complex environments.

Room for Improvement: Users of WhatsUp Gold suggest enhancements in speed, more intuitive alerting systems, and improved scalability. Checkmk users desire a more straightforward setup process, better documentation, and a user-friendly interface.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WhatsUp Gold is praised for its straightforward deployment and robust customer service support. Checkmk can be more challenging to deploy and might require additional technical expertise, with customer service experiences being less favorable compared to WhatsUp Gold.

Pricing and ROI: WhatsUp Gold is cost-effective with reasonable setup costs contributing to a quicker ROI. Checkmk, despite higher initial expenses, is valued for long-term investment in complex monitoring needs, though it tends to have a slower ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. WhatsUp Gold Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. WhatsUp Gold

May 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

Checkmk

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

10th

Ranking in Server Monitoring

5th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (12th)

WhatsUp Gold

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

26th

Ranking in Server Monitoring

14th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

27th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (25th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 3.8%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 1.2%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network 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.

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Tom Condo

Supervisor Information Services Operations at Seminole County Public Schools

If CPU, memory, or disk space is over-utilized, it alerts us immediately via text or email if there is an issue

When it comes to the intuitiveness of the topology mapping feature, our network architect created a vision diagram of our entire network and then created the links tied into the WhatsUp active monitoring to different spots on our topology map. It's one of the more critical functions we do here. We have the map displayed in different places in our room and help desk. We get alerted via emails but we can also see it visually. It does what it says it's going to do. We find this feature very helpful. The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one link. You can go into a particular part of the topology map, scroll in, and see exactly which module it is. All the information is provided. This feature really helps. You can see the correlation between that link and what failed. This feature is very helpful. The interface is fairly intuitive. Some of our users used SolarWinds and Nagios, and WhatsUp is easy in comparison. Once you get set up, the look, feel, and configuration are good. Our network architect had never used it before but he was able to create the Visio and map. It was very simple. He has no problems with it.

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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."

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

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

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

"We can monitor multiple sites using the product."

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

"The alerting system in Checkmk really works properly."

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

More Checkmk pros

"The interface in the last few years it has been a lot greater, they are much more user-friendly. I like the interface."

"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."

"The user interface is good enough."

"Our local support team provides excellent service."

"We no longer have to manually search for problems because we are alerted when something in the network goes down."

"The tool's most valuable feature is the visibility it offers of everything in the network and infrastructure."

"The most important features of WhatsUp Gold are the server health and uptime it provides. Additionally, WhatsUp Gold is a Windows-based solution which is a benefit."

"It is easy to access and discover devices, as well as monitor them automatically. The topology discover is also a useful feature."

More WhatsUp Gold pros

Cons

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

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

More Checkmk cons

"One of the biggest things that made us start to look at another product is we're not able to have an end to end monitoring from a user perspective throughout the system and back to the user. All the monitoring is from inside out, we need something that also can give us from outside in."

"I think there are a few bugs now. Although they give some resolution for this, we cannot share the network remotely because of our company policy."

"WhatsUp Gold should work on real-time monitoring and configuration management. If they succeed in doing this, the solution will cover all the network troubleshooting aspects and will be a benefit."

"Importing the maps and being able to customize them could be easier."

"I would like to see them do an enhancement to the application monitoring. A lot of other products do better application monitoring so they should do some improvements to the application monitoring."

"The tool should focus on increasing its market share, as it is the only area of concern where improvements are needed."

"The interface needs some work."

"The new release cadence needs to be improved. It takes a while for them to add new features and functionality. There should be a quicker turnaround with new versions."

More WhatsUp Gold cons

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 most valuable feature is the cost compared to other solutions."

"I'm not sure, but it's expensive. We don't pay any additional fees."

"The pricing can be on the expensive side when considering competing products."

"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."

"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."

"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."

"The tool's price is reasonable. WhatsUp Gold is cheaper than SolarWinds."

"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."

More WhatsUp Gold pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about WhatsUp Gold?

The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?

Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?

Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be benefici...

See all answers

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Compared 13% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 10% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 8% of the time

Nagios XI vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

May 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

WhatsUp Gold

April 2025

Download WhatsUp Gold 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

Explore and manage your entire network infrastructure effortlessly with WhatsUp Gold's robust layer 2/3 discovery, creating a detailed interactive map from the edge to the cloud. Monitor devices, wireless controllers, servers, virtual machines, applications, and traffic flows across various environments. Real-time alerts ensure optimal performance, allowing you to meet or exceed SLAs. The platform offers customizable maps, dashboards, and alerts for easy network management. Quickly resolve issues with intuitive workflows, reducing Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). WhatsUp Gold's integrated log management provides easy visibility and control of device log data, allowing monitoring, filtering, searching, and alerting on syslogs or Windows logs. Archive logs to comply with regulatory requirements and preserve historical data, all through a user-friendly interface. Streamline network monitoring and issue resolution with WhatsUp Gold, making network management efficient and hassle-free.

Progress Software

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. WhatsUp Gold

May 2025

Free Report: Checkmk vs. WhatsUp Gold

Find out what your peers are saying about Checkmk vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.

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