Checkmk vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications comparison

Checkmk and VMware are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Checkmk is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.4, while VMware is ranked #23 with an average rating of 9.0. Checkmk holds a 5.8% mindshare in CMS, compared to VMware’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

4,374 Views
3,106 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Read 14 VMware Aria Operations for Applications reviews

2,555 Views
996 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Checkmk

VMware Aria Operations for ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

VMware Aria Operations for Applications and Checkmk are competing in the application monitoring and management category. VMware Aria Operations gains an edge with pricing and customer support, while Checkmk impresses with its comprehensive features and flexible monitoring capabilities.

Features:VMware Aria Operations for Applications provides application performance monitoring, predictive analytics, and support for diverse cloud environments. Checkmk offers advanced monitoring for various infrastructures, detailed health checks, and automation features. VMware Aria Operations is known for its extensive cloud integrations, while Checkmk provides a flexible monitoring stack with in-depth customization.

Room for Improvement:VMware Aria Operations could improve in adapting its features for non-cloud environments, expanding customization options, and enhancing on-premises support. Checkmk can improve by simplifying its user interface, offering better mobile access, and streamlining its initial setup process to suit less technical users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:VMware Aria Operations offers streamlined deployment for cloud-native environments with responsive customer service. Checkmk supports various networks with its modular architecture and extensive documentation. VMware Aria Operations focuses on deployment simplicity, while Checkmk prioritizes configurability and extensive support resources.

Pricing and ROI:VMware Aria Operations presents a competitive initial setup cost with a strong return on investment for those in the VMware ecosystem. Checkmk's cost structure, driven by its open-source model, leads to favorable cost-benefit outcomes over time. VMware Aria Operations attracts organizations seeking comprehensive cloud integration, while Checkmk's model benefits businesses prioritizing flexibility and extendability.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

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 IT Infrastructure Monitoring

13th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (8th), Server Monitoring (6th)

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

31st

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

23rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (29th), Container Monitoring (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 5.8%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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.

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ToniLindberg

senior consultant at Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

Troubleshooting capabilities have improved application monitoring and support engagement

I can see what happens end to end, which is pretty beneficial. The solution has troubleshooting capabilities, providing a direct connection to knowledge base articles from VMware Broadcom. When I encounter an error, I can search directly within the system to see what solutions have been employed by others. It has a familiar interface, which makes it easy to get started.

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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

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

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

"We can monitor multiple sites using the product."

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

"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."

"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."

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

More Checkmk pros

"The features I find most valuable is the querying and alerting capabilities."

"I find VMware Aria Operations for Applications to be very stable, and I would rate it a ten out of ten."

"This solution allows me to have true visibility for any metrics when it comes to my cloud, and private."

"VMware Aria Operations for Applications offers significant features such as real-time statistics, the ability to identify possible issues within the VM environment, and helpful heat maps."

"It significantly improves application performance management by offering recommendations for resource allocation to avoid wastage or overcommitment."

"The solution provides single-console management for multiple VMware environments and cloud integrations, whether hybrid, private, or public cloud."

"VMware comes with a support team, and if you have trouble, you can easily create a ticket, and VMware will help you. Therefore, the best aspect is the support."

"The solution is great for virtualization and preparing the infrastructure in Tanzu to test products. It's very fast and has good visibility."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications pros

Cons

"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."

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

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

"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."

"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."

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

More Checkmk cons

"An area for improvement would be more in-depth reporting, such as analyzing disk IO during business hours compared to after hours."

"The return on investment is best suited for organizations that do not have the resources for a dedicated VM environment team. However, the cost of the product doesn't show significant benefits."

"The main problem I have is that the license cost is very high."

"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."

"I find that there could be improvements in the support service response time, as the urgency varies unless specified as Priority 2 or 1 cases."

"I would like to see integration with Kubernetes cluster and APIs so that you can manage the entire stack."

"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."

"The solution could be expensive, which might be a limiting factor."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications 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."

"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."

"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."

"I would rate the pricing as three out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

The cost of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is fair and reasonable compared to what we receive in support and packages from VMware.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

I find that there could be improvements in the support service response time, as the urgency varies unless specified as Priority 2 or 1 cases.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

Our primary use case for VMware Aria Operations for Applications is to enhance application monitoring tasks, allowing us to set up alerts for different components and send them via SMTP to a team d...

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

Dynatrace vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 10% of the time

Zabbix vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 7% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

July 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Operations for Applications

July 2025

VMware Aria Operations for Applications report

Download VMware Aria Operations for Applications product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanzu Observability, Wavefront, Wavefront by VMware, VMware Tanzu Observability

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

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.

VMware

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

Checkmk vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

July 2025

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