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Nagios Core vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications comparison

Nagios and Broadcom are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Nagios is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.7, while Broadcom is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.8. Nagios holds a 2.4% mindshare in IM, compared to Broadcom’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Nagios users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.
Nagios Core
Read 51 Nagios Core reviews
  • 4,463 Views
  • 3,526 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Read 14 VMware Aria Operations for Applications reviews
  • 3,211 Views
  • 1,638 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024
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VMware Aria Operations for Applications and Nagios Core compete in application monitoring and management. VMware often has the upper hand due to its flexibility and modern analytics, while Nagios is favored for customization and simplicity.

Features: VMware Aria Operations for Applications includes advanced analytics, real-time performance monitoring, integrated automation, unified visibility, and proactive issue resolution. Nagios Core offers robust alerting, highly customizable monitoring, community-supported extensions, open-source flexibility, and scalability for various environments.

Room for Improvement: VMware Aria Operations for Applications could improve in user interface simplicity, cost efficiency, and scalability for smaller organizations. Nagios Core may need enhancements in documentation clarity, integration with third-party tools, and professional customer support options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Operations for Applications provides a streamlined deployment process with extensive support and is ideal for complex environments. Nagios Core offers a straightforward deployment model but requires more manual configuration, relying on community-driven support.

Pricing and ROI: VMware Aria Operations for Applications may involve higher upfront costs but delivers substantial long-term ROI through automation and efficiency. Nagios Core, as an open-source solution, presents a lower initial cost with good ROI for those investing time in setup and customization.

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To learn more, read our detailed Nagios Core vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications Report (Updated: January 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Nagios Core vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications
January 2026
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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

Nagios Core
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (10th)
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (19th), Container Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Nagios Core is 2.4%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Nagios Core2.4%
VMware Aria Operations for Applications1.6%
Other96.0%
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

HY
Husham Yaqoob
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
Monitoring solution provides comprehensive visibility across IT infrastructure
The good thing about Nagios Core is it covers everything. Everything in the IT domain, you can monitor anything. You can even monitor printers, the ports of printers, Core workstations, and storage. You can monitor the workflow Core and the utilization of computes. If you want to grasp everything of your IT equipment on a single interface, you can use Nagios. It's the best one. It provides dashboards, and you can also configure your emails and alerts with it. If something is critical, you can configure it to notify via emails. It has a very handy dashboard, providing live alerts and visibility for everything.
Read full review
AS
Ajay Shukla
Consultant at HCLTech
Automation and insightful diagnostics elevate operations while improvements are welcome
The new version 8.18 has brought significant improvements. The main purpose of using this tool is having a single console to manage all entities. The cloud integration capabilities, including private, public, and hybrid, are already well-implemented. The ability to manage multiple vCenters across different geographical locations is very effective. The new Skyline health feature and certificate and licensing management are particularly useful improvements. The dashboard's overview tab provides comprehensive information about current vCenter status, resizable amounts, reclamation opportunities, anomalies, diagnostics, licensing, and certificates. However, there is room for improvement in application analysis. The current functionality lacks detailed monitoring at the kernel level, focusing mainly on CPU, memory, and storage matrices. Enhanced application monitoring capabilities, including tracking downtime for specific types of applications such as transactional or e-commerce applications, would be beneficial.
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 like that it's very simple to install, easy to manage and deploy, and easy to use for monitoring."
"The most valuable feature of Nagios Core is the ability to check the availability of the server for network connectivity. Additionally, the interface is good."
"What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services."
"I like the way the solution sends alerts and how it keeps on escalating them."
"We use the product to monitor server applications."
"Key features include the GUI interface, its notification capabilities, and the real-time reporting."
"I would rate the overall solution ten points out of ten."
"Alert calls occur anytime a service goes down or a matrix is difficult and that helps us to quickly restore service and transfer work."
More Nagios Core pros
"This solution allows me to have true visibility for any metrics when it comes to my cloud, and private."
"The most valuable aspects of the solution are its ease of use and its ease of implementation."
"It has a familiar interface, which makes it easy to get started."
"I gladly recommend VMware Aria Operations for Applications because it is cost effective and has commendable AI response capabilities."
"It significantly improves application performance management by offering recommendations for resource allocation to avoid wastage or overcommitment."
"No issues with stability."
"I find VMware Aria Operations for Applications to be very stable, and I would rate it a ten out of ten."
"Scalability for VMware Aria Operations for Applications is easy to implement and manage."
More VMware Aria Operations for Applications pros
 

Cons

"Bandwidth monitoring is the pain point for me because Nagios Core does not monitor bandwidth effectively like Cacti does."
"There is room for improvement in the graphics."
"Cloud monitoring is an area for improvement because there aren't too many plugins available."
"The UI is a little outdated and graphics could be displayed in a better way."
"Making it a little easier to configure and set up from the start would help. There are multiple layers that you have to wade through to be able to set it up, to do it the right way, and to get it to do what you want it to do."
"The interface could be improved."
"Nagios Core is limited in terms of distributed setups, and there is no central view for remote data centers."
"I would like to see more training videos."
More Nagios Core cons
"The main problem I have is that the license cost is very high."
"VMware technical support has declined since the Broadcom acquisition. Previously, they were more focused on issue resolution, but now they prioritize licensing verification before providing support."
"In the new version, I would love to see more prediction capabilities. It would be great if one could see the alerts get a little more enriched with information and become more human-friendly instead of the technical stuff that they put in there. I think those would be really awesome outcomes to get."
"An area for improvement would be more in-depth reporting, such as analyzing disk IO during business hours compared to after hours."
"The solution could be expensive, which might be a limiting factor."
"The documentation and integration with Kubernetes could be improved."
"The initial setup should be easier and more seamless."
"I would like to see integration with Kubernetes cluster and APIs so that you can manage the entire stack."
More VMware Aria Operations for Applications cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have saved a lot of time, money, and effort in reducing disaster times, which is owed to Nagios quick alerting."
"We are using the open-source, unpaid version."
"Most the plugin features are free."
"We are using the free version."
"Lessening the price point would be an improvement."
"Nagios Core is an open source solution, and there are no licensing fees."
"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."
"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."
More Nagios Core pricing and cost advice
"I would rate the pricing as three out of five."
"I don't have the details. In our case, there is a mixture in place. We have production usage, and we are also doing training for VMware. So, we also have a training instance. It is worth the money you would spend on it. That's because if you were to build all of this yourself by using some of the open source tools, then you would need a lot of time."
"Different locations require different setups. In your terms, around 300 to around 400K USD."
"The licensing costs are very high, particularly when you consider that we have to purchase a level 1 license for every integration, such as the load balancer, HAProxy, and the MSSP. And if you want to use vSAN, that's another license. Then, of course, Tanzu Observability has its own separate license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios Core?
Nagios Core is a free and open-source product. We don't charge for the product itself, but we charge for the man-hour costs related to installation, configuration, ongoing operation, and maintenance.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Nagios Core?
The dashboard should be improved. It's very simple. I don't have a very clear or specific suggestion. You can change the skin of the dashboard, however, it's good for me.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Nagios Core?
I was a senior system administrator. I've been using Nagios Core for more than ten years now. It can be used to monitor hosts, such as machines, and monitor services of any kind. I'm using it to mo...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?
The solution includes cost drivers that can be configured according to your environment. You can input server-wise, CPU-wise, storage, and memory costs per hour or day. Once cost drivers are provid...
See all answers
What needs improvement with VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?
The new version 8.18 has brought significant improvements. The main purpose of using this tool is having a single console to manage all entities. The cloud integration capabilities, including priva...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?
I have been involved in several projects where I had to implement automation and monitoring alerting. I performed automation using VMware Aria Operations for Applications. There is an automation ta...
See all answers
 

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Compared 6% of the time
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Compared 5% of the time
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Compared 7% of the time
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Compared 6% of the time
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Compared 5% of the time
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PRTG Network Monitor vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications
Compared 4% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Nagios Core
January 2026
Nagios Core reportDownload Nagios Core product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Operations for Applications
January 2026
VMware Aria Operations for Applications reportDownload VMware Aria Operations for Applications product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Tanzu Observability, Wavefront, Wavefront by VMware, VMware Tanzu Observability
 

Overview

This is IT infrastructure monitoring's industry-standard, open-source core. Free without professional support services.

Nagios

VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing the performance and availability of applications and infrastructure in real-time. 

With its comprehensive monitoring capabilities, visualizing and analyzing data becomes effortless. The real-time alerting system ensures timely issue resolution, while scalability and a user-friendly interface provide a seamless experience for smooth operations.

Broadcom
 

Sample Customers

Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel
1. Atlassian 2. Cisco 3. Databricks 4. DigitalOcean 5. Equinix 6. Fidelity Investments 7. Google 8. Hewlett Packard Enterprise 9. Honeywell 10. IBM 11. Intel 12. JetBlue Airways 13. LinkedIn 14. Lyft 15. Mastercard 16. Microsoft 17. MongoDB 18. Netflix 19. Nvidia 20. Oracle 21. PayPal 22. Pinterest 23. Qualcomm 24. Red Hat 25. Salesforce 26. SAP 27. Spotify 28. Square 29. TMobile 30. Twitter 31. Uber 32. VMware
Buyer's Guide
Nagios Core vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications
January 2026
Free Report: Nagios Core vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications
Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios Core vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
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