Icinga vs Observer GigaStor comparison

Icinga and Viavi Solutions are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Icinga is ranked #41, while Viavi Solutions is ranked #84. Icinga holds a 1.1% mindshare in NMS, compared to Viavi Solutions’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Icinga users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Viavi Solutions users who would recommend it.

Icinga

Read 17 Icinga reviews

7,233 Views
5,352 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Observer GigaStor

Read 7 Observer GigaStor reviews

2,796 Views
1,761 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Icinga

Observer GigaStor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Icinga and Observer GigaStor compete in the IT monitoring category. Icinga is preferred for cost-effectiveness and community support, while Observer GigaStor's advanced features and functionality make it suitable for feature-rich environments.

Features: Icinga provides open-source flexibility, an extensive plugin library, and seamless integrations making it adaptable to various IT environments. Observer GigaStor offers robust network packet storage, real-time analytics, and specialized network diagnostics essential for deep traffic analysis and troubleshooting.

Room for Improvement: Icinga could improve its user interface for easier navigation, expand professional support options, and enhance its alerting system for more precise notifications. Observer GigaStor may benefit from offering a more cost-effective pricing model, improving integration capabilities with third-party tools, and providing greater customization within its analytics features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Icinga's deployment benefits from a strong community and open-source flexibility but demands more technical expertise. Observer GigaStor offers a streamlined installation process with comprehensive vendor support, meeting the needs of organizations that prioritize professional guidance.

Pricing and ROI: Icinga offers a lower setup cost, ideal for budget-conscious organizations with sufficient in-house expertise. Observer GigaStor's initial cost is higher, but its extensive features can offer significant ROI in environments where advanced network monitoring is crucial.

To learn more, read our detailed Icinga vs. Observer GigaStor Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Icinga vs. Observer GigaStor

August 2026

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Helped 910,005 peers since 2012

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

Icinga

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

41st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (17th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (48th), Cloud Monitoring Software (32nd)

Observer GigaStor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

84th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (14th), Network Packet Broker (NPB) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Icinga is 1.1%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Observer GigaStor is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Icinga	1.1%
Observer GigaStor	0.5%
Other	98.4%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

reviewer2292201

Innovation Service Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Easy to use, and it's possible to customize the product as per the needs we may have but average multi-tenancy aspect

It's supported by the community. We use Icinga, which is not part of the Open-Source platform but is wrapped into a commercial solution from another provider, a local provider in Italy. Icinga is an open-source platform, so it is supported by the community. It's quite easy to use, and it's possible to customize the product as per the needs we may have. So it's not expensive, and it's quite a general purpose. We can easily monitor any kind of infrastructure we encounter. The ability to customize scripts and build your own queries to request information from the infrastructure elements you want to monitor. This level of personalization and customization is highly appreciated. The alerting is the same as any other monitoring platform. It's not a "wow" feature that has changed our lives, but it's perfectly adequate.

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Jeroen-Dubbelman

Director at Bitrate

Aids significantly in the threat-hunting process and provides a score-based evaluation of user experience

There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies. The retrospective network analysis capability of Observer GigaStor has been beneficial. It's a pivotal feature for network performance solutions. However, I prefer to consider the entire solution suite - GigaStor, along with GigaFlow and Apex - for comprehensive network visibility and monitoring. So, I prefer to integrate all three solutions to provide the best visibility. They complement each other well, with Apex aggregating and correlating data from both GigaStor and GigaFlow to enhance environmental understanding and troubleshooting efficiency.

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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

"An affordable solution for small organizations to do basic network monitoring."

"I like the ability to amend and adjust things really easily, which is useful in a case where you could make it auto-discover and then set a template to say all of these applications or servers under this template have an automatic threshold set that you’d set up manually."

"Macros and the ability to connect it to Google Maps are valuable features."

"I would recommend Icinga; it's an open-source solution, it's quite easy and simple to use, and checks can be run with Python code and Shell Script code."

"The apply rules feature saves a lot of time."

"Icinga has multiple automation and integration features. There is an API for everything and a web UI for configurations. The APIs enable you to automate tasks in Icinga. We can also use plugins to talk to the API. The Icinga Director talks to a database in the background, and you can import settings from the CMDB to all systems in Icinga."

"We monitor all, starting from UPS to international mail chains."

"The ability to customize scripts and build your own queries to request information from the infrastructure elements you want to monitor. This level of personalization and customization is highly appreciated."

More Icinga pros

"I also have the ability to see an application's performance, to see what's going on, why a network is slow, why this program for this user is experiencing a delay or some network issue"

"If you have the opportunity, I would strongly encourage you to get it, because it makes the IT experience easier and more flexible, by providing the ability to see things in your networks like the directory packet label."

"Industry-leading line rates, packet-capture technology and data-mining capabilities are the most valuable features."

"This solution allows us to see exactly what is going on in the network and we can very quickly solve issues with users."

"There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies."

"It's able to capture packets and, after a long time, you can come and use that information; to check, to analyze - everything you would want to do. So it's very good and helpful if you want to protect your data. It is stored in a certain place where you can access it every time you want to analyze it."

"I have no regrets using this product, I am very satisfied for what I paid for it and for the things I am able to do with the product."

"The ability to capture packets. It is not only for monitoring. That is very important for a company that wants to keep an eye on the packets, the transactions, the flows..."

More Observer GigaStor pros

Cons

"Network Discovery capabilities would be extremely helpful."

"The user interface should be improved."

"At this time, the layout of the website is a bit difficult. It should be more user-friendly for changing the background and logos."

"The tool currently fails to provide notifications to users."

"I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built."

"One thing that Icinga lacks is the capability to create advanced and customized dashboards within the tool itself."

"The installation and configuration are very complex."

"It is not really adequate for our current needs. It causes additional issues which we have to work around and takes us time that a better solution would not."

More Icinga cons

"There are some issues, in our environment that puts processing restraints on the Gigastor when turning on trending data to be sent to APEX."

"Graphics need improvement. Because a lot of the information there you have to input first in some case to have full potential. It could be more automated."

"Maybe the graphical user interface could be simplified to allow people to use it more easily. It's already good, but they can work more on it to make it even easier."

"The interface is pretty complex, so for the average user, it takes a while to get up to speed with it. I would like it to be more user-friendly."

"GigaStor feeds into Apex. So, the area where there could be improvement would be in artificial intelligence. For example, the incorporation of more advanced machine learning or AI capabilities could enhance its functionality."

"The Observer Console UI is consistent and stable, but could use some updating to be more modern."

"I would like to have more than 4TB of storage available in the portable version of this solution."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an open-source solution with paid support."

"It's an open-source solution."

"The solution is free to use."

"We're using the free version of Icinga."

"Even though Icinga's financial cost is low, it is an expensive product regarding the resources required to maintain and operate it."

"The solution is cheap."

"The product is inexpensive compared to other DBM products."

"It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low."

"It depends on the requirements you have. There are three types of license. There's the updates license, the work group license, and the workstation license."

"It's quite expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	3

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Icinga

August 2026

Download Icinga product report

Buyer's Guide

Observer GigaStor

August 2026

Download Observer GigaStor product report

Also Known As

Icinga Cloud Monitoring

No data available

Overview

Icinga is a robust tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, known for its distributed monitoring capabilities and seamless integration with multiple platforms. It efficiently observes servers, network devices, and environments like Linux and Windows, enabling proactive issue identification and resource management.

With a focus on task delegation and clustering, Icinga offers an intuitive interface through its GUI and Icinga Director, simplifying configuration. The extensive plugin library supports diverse technologies, while the API allows automation with tools like Terraform and Ansible. Despite its strengths, users report challenges with data display in the GUI, a need for improved dashboards, and complex configuration processes. Users benefit from its SNMP alerts, email notifications, and automated incident handling, making it essential for managed service environments and enterprises.

What are the key features of Icinga?

Task Delegation: Streamlines monitoring tasks across distributed systems.
Event Handler: Enables automatic service recovery with minimal intervention.
Plugin Library: Offers extensive support for integrating diverse technologies.
API Accessibility: Facilitates automation with popular tools like Terraform.
Custom Plugins: Allows easy creation and personalization for monitoring needs.

What benefits should you consider in Icinga reviews?

Flexibility: Tailors monitoring to specific requirements with community support.
Scalability: Successfully manages growing infrastructure demands.
Proactivity: Enhances issue identification and resource allocation.
Integration: Seamlessly works with existing IT operations platforms.

Icinga is widely adopted in IT environments for monitoring servers, networks, and applications across industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology. Its ability to integrate with various operating systems and automation platforms makes it a versatile choice for industries prioritizing comprehensive surveillance and proactive management of their infrastructure.

Icinga

Observer GigaStor provides detailed network visibility and data capture for efficient troubleshooting and analysis. It's a robust tool designed to manage today’s complex network environments, offering reliability and performance insights.

Observer GigaStor specializes in long-term network traffic capture, delivering comprehensive forensic analysis capabilities. It stands as a trusted resource for IT departments aiming to resolve network performance issues swiftly. By capturing and storing packets with high precision, it aids in identifying both current and past anomalies, ensuring network health and performance continuity through proactive monitoring.

What are the key features of Observer GigaStor?

Long-term Data Capture: Enables storage of vast amounts of data for extensive historical analysis.
Comprehensive Protocol Support: Offers support for diverse protocols, enhancing troubleshooting accuracy.
Retrospective Analysis: Provides the ability to trace issues back to their origin point, improving issue resolution speed.
Scalability: Adapts to network growth without sacrificing performance capabilities.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from reviews?

Increased Troubleshooting Efficiency: Provides quicker resolution times, reducing network downtime.
Enhanced Network Visibility: Improves understanding of network performance and traffic patterns.
Reduced Operational Costs: Limits the need for manual troubleshooting, saving on labor costs.
Improved Decision Making: Data insights aid in strategic planning for infrastructure improvements.

Observer GigaStor's implementation spans across various industries, from telecommunications to finance, where maintaining robust and secure network performance is crucial. Its ability to analyze and retrieve historical network data supports compliance and operational stability demands in these sectors.

Viavi Solutions

Sample Customers

Puppet Labs, Audi, Spacex, Debian, Snapdeal, McGill, RIPE Network Coordination Centre

Cisco Systems, Hawaiian Telecom, Renown Health, State of Nevada, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Allstate Insurance, Jack Henry & Associates, United States Airforce, US Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Buyer's Guide

Icinga vs. Observer GigaStor

August 2026

Free Report: Icinga vs. Observer GigaStor

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