The short version
Nagios is free, open-source, and can monitor almost anything — if you're willing to write and maintain the configuration files, plugins, and the server it runs on. That's a real cost: someone owns "the box that monitors the other boxes," and if it breaks, you're debugging your monitoring instead of your infrastructure. CloudStats is a hosted alternative: no server to maintain, no config files to hand-edit, working dashboards within minutes of installing the agent.
CloudStats vs Nagios
See what you get out of the box, and where CloudStats takes the maintenance work off your team.
This table can scroll horizontally to reveal every comparison column.
| Capability | CloudStatsOur platform | Nagios |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours to days |
| Self-hosted monitoring server to maintain | No | Yes |
| Configuration | UI-based | Config files / plugins |
| Linux CPU, RAM, disk monitoring | Yes | Yes (via plugins) |
| Mobile-friendly dashboard | Yes | Depends on setup |
| Free plan available | Yes | Free (self-hosted, but infra cost is yours) |
Values reflect the standard product experience and may vary by plan or configuration.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Nagios really free if CloudStats has a paid plan?
Nagios Core is free software, but you still pay for the server it runs on and the time to configure and maintain it — a cost that's easy to underestimate.
Can I migrate away from an existing Nagios setup?
Yes, most teams re-add their servers and checks in CloudStats within an afternoon instead of maintaining parallel config files.
Does CloudStats support custom checks like Nagios plugins do?
CloudStats covers the checks most teams actually use — CPU, RAM, disk, processes, uptime, ports, cron — out of the box, without plugin development.