Checkmk vs FortiMonitor comparison

Checkmk and Fortinet are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Checkmk is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.4, while Fortinet is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.3. Checkmk holds a 3.9% mindshare in NMS, compared to Fortinet’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

4,374 Views
3,718 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

FortiMonitor

Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews

1,625 Views
1,333 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Checkmk

FortiMonitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

FortiMonitor and Checkmk are competitors in the network monitoring space. Checkmk has an advantage due to its comprehensive features and perceived value for cost.

Features: FortiMonitor provides robust monitoring capabilities with scalability and integration as key strengths. It supports extensive API integrations, offers real-time network performance analysis, and customizable alerting options. Checkmk delivers detailed monitoring metrics, dynamic dashboards, automated alerting, a highly active community for user support, and pre-configured compliance reports. Its advanced feature set gives it a slight edge in functionality.

Room for Improvement: FortiMonitor could improve by offering more detailed reporting tools, enhancing user interface intuitiveness, and increasing the variety of built-in widgets for dashboards. Checkmk has room for improvement in streamlining its extensive configuration process, providing more competitive pricing tiers, and expanding its remote troubleshooting options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FortiMonitor features a straightforward deployment process accompanied by strong remote support services, favored for its simplicity. Checkmk also offers seamless deployment with comprehensive online resources and strong customer support, ensuring a smooth user experience from the start.

Pricing and ROI: FortiMonitor presents a cost-effective setup with favorable ROI, appealing to budget-conscious buyers. Its pricing starts at approximately $30 per device per month, offering flexible payment options. Checkmk requires a higher initial investment, with packages starting at around $600 per year for small environments. Its extensive capabilities suggest potential for a greater long-term ROI, justifying the higher price due to its feature benefits.

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

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. FortiMonitor

July 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

8th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

13th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (6th), Cloud Monitoring Software (12th)

FortiMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

21st

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

26th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Alerting and Incident Management (9th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 3.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.8%, up from 0.6% 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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JaimeVasquez

Commercial Manager at IT-Experience

Monitoring capabilities keep operations running smoothly and alerts enhance proactive system management

We use FortiMonitor to monitor the infrastructure of our customers. We check on what is happening with their operations, monitor bandwidth, ensure configurations are appropriate for the customer, and identify if anything is going wrong The most valuable features of FortiMonitor are its redundancy…

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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

"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."

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

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

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

"Checkmk helps me compare data and foresee issues."

"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."

More Checkmk pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."

"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."

"It provides the best firewall features."

"The product's initial setup phase is easy."

"In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic, blocked sites, and the health of our hardware. That last part, about knowing if something's going to fail soon, is super important. It gives us time to sort things out before any big problems happen. As a system engineer, I need to keep tabs on everything – temperature, monitoring systems, and network operations. This data is really handy because it helps me ensure our site runs smoothly, whether it's turning systems on or off. Just last night, there was a system failure, but thanks to real-time monitoring, I quickly identified the problem and got the necessary replacement parts."

"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."

"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is user monitoring. We are able to see if the user is following the policy or not from their system. Additionally, the solution integrates well with Fortinet FortiGate and has centralized management."

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."

More FortiMonitor pros

Cons

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

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

More Checkmk cons

"The solution's initial setup process is time-consuming."

"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."

". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."

"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."

"The tool's price in Vietnam is high, making it an area of concern where improvements can be made."

More FortiMonitor 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 tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

26%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Retailer

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.

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

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

See all answers

What do you like most about FortiMonitor?

In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.

See all answers

Comparisons

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PRTG Network Monitor vs Checkmk

Compared 5% of the time

SCOM vs Checkmk

Compared 4% of the time

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ThousandEyes vs FortiMonitor

Compared 26% of the time

Datadog vs FortiMonitor

Compared 18% of the time

Zabbix vs FortiMonitor

Compared 17% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 12% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

July 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

July 2025

Download FortiMonitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

Panopta

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

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. FortiMonitor

July 2025

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