Nagios Core vs Nagios Fusion comparison

Nagios Core and Nagios Fusion are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Nagios Core is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.3, while Nagios Fusion is ranked #45 with an average rating of 8.5. Nagios Core holds a 3.1% mindshare in IM, compared to Nagios Fusion’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Nagios Core users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Nagios Fusion users who would recommend it.

Nagios Core

Read 51 Nagios Core reviews

3,994 Views
3,435 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Nagios Fusion

Read 4 Nagios Fusion reviews

307 Views
304 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Nagios Core

Nagios Fusion

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Nagios Core and Nagios Fusion compete in network monitoring solutions. Nagios Fusion appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced features for managing multiple Nagios Core instances and offering centralized views, making it more suitable for large-scale operations.

Features: Nagios Core offers customizable monitoring capabilities, strong system observation, and application monitoring. Nagios Fusion provides centralized views, consolidated data management, and streamlined operational views.

Room for Improvement: Nagios Core could improve user interface design, reduce configuration complexity, and enhance reporting options. Nagios Fusion might benefit from broader compatibility with third-party integrations, more detailed alerting options, and additional customization features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Nagios Core deployment requires significant configuration and technical expertise, but support from a strong community is available. Nagios Fusion simplifies deployment with its centralized management, reducing the complexity of multi-installation handling, and also benefits from solid support structures.

Pricing and ROI: Nagios Core offers a lower initial setup cost, ideal for smaller networks or organizations. Nagios Fusion has a higher setup cost, justified by enhanced capabilities ideal for overseeing multiple networks, potentially improving ROI by saving time and resources in extensive deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed Nagios Core vs. Nagios Fusion Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core vs. Nagios Fusion

September 2025

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Helped 869,566 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

Nagios Core

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (12th)

Nagios Fusion

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

45th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Nagios Core is 3.1%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios Fusion is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Nagios Core	3.1%
Nagios Fusion	0.3%
Other	96.6%

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Nishith-Vyas

Tech Lead at STL Digital Limited

Valuable reporting and alert system with room for PDF export improvements

The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak. It should be generated automatically with minimal human intervention and should be exportable as a PDF. Besides that, an integrated PDF export feature for reports is necessary. Also, the alert mechanism and graphing mechanism need to be integrated properly into Nagios Core. Currently, integrating these requires advanced Linux knowledge. Integration of more visualization tools like Grafana and Prometheus for better graphing and visualization is also recommended.

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SyarulIdzuddin Adzmi

Operation Director at Digital Pulse Sdn Bhd

A suitable choice for unified and efficient infrastructure monitoring across diverse environments providing user-friendly GUI, cost-effectiveness, and versatility

We use it for this specific client, they've deployed multiple instances of it across various locations to facilitate monitoring. To effectively monitor their infrastructure, it seems necessary to implement additional monitoring solutions for all three types of devices they have Nagios Fusion…

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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 use the product to monitor server applications."

"What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services."

"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."

"Monitoring with Nagios Core is helpful because it provides immediate alerts if something goes down, such as a server, or wireless router, or if there's a cable break. This allows us to respond promptly to any issues."

"The good thing about Nagios Core is it covers everything."

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it offers proper alerting capabilities."

"The most valuable features are the reports and the way it generates the report in a graphical manner."

"The notifications are definitely one of the most valuable features of Nagios Core. We know what to look for and what to expect when things are down."

More Nagios Core pros

"It is easier for client installation, and the configurations are doable even for a newcomer in the field."

"Being open source lets us customize it for our monitoring needs, saving us money."

"It's very easy to manage and monitor it."

"Nagios Fusion version 12.8 excels in user-friendly GUI design, cost-effectiveness, and ease of deployment."

Cons

"The user interface could be more interactive because it is pretty basic."

"The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak."

"We're using the free version, which limits us in terms of the things that we can do. If we had the paid version, a lot of our issues would probably go away. For example, we can't isolate instances that are being built or updated with the production ones. When they're being built, on Nagios, they're showing in red. It'd be nice to be able to partition those off until they're all green, and then we can bring them into the environment. This is probably because we've got the free version and not the paid version. If we went for the paid version, it would probably allow us to do exactly what we want to or remove the restrictions that we have, but if we are able to isolate instances in the free version, it would make life much easier."

"Nagios Core could improve by adding a user interface. If you want the user interface you have to use Nagios XI."

"The alerting mechanism in Nagios Core could be improved."

"Nagios Core is limited in terms of distributed setups, and there is no central view for remote data centers."

"The mapping is a little hard."

"I would like to see a sensor that shows the traffic of a user and what they're doing on the network."

More Nagios Core cons

"Adding application performance monitoring to the product alongside infrastructure monitoring would make it a more complete and useful solution."

"Nagios Fusion should include a 'remember me' option when logging in, so we don't need to enter a username and password every time."

"There are some bugs, although not that many. There are some situations where the solution is not stable but the number of problems is not very high."

"In future iterations of this solution, there is a desire for more seamless integration with other monitoring software."

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."

"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."

"The product is cheaply priced."

"We are using the free version of Nagios Core."

"The Nagios Core (PNP4Nagios + Core) is free and can be setup by Netadmin within a few hours. The only additional cost is the cloud server."

"We are using the open-source, unpaid version."

"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."

More Nagios Core pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is quite reasonable, especially when compared to the broader market."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	22

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nagios Core?

What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services.

See all answers

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 do you like most about Nagios Fusion?

Nagios Fusion version 12.8 excels in user-friendly GUI design, cost-effectiveness, and ease of deployment.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Nagios Fusion?

In future iterations of this solution, there is a desire for more seamless integration with other monitoring software.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Nagios Fusion?

Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Icinga vs Nagios Core

Compared 21% of the time

Nagios XI vs Nagios Core

Compared 14% of the time

Zabbix vs Nagios Core

Compared 12% of the time

Centreon vs Nagios Core

Compared 7% of the time

Checkmk vs Nagios Core

Compared 6% of the time

More Nagios Core Competitors

Icinga vs Nagios Fusion

Compared 52% of the time

Nagios XI vs Nagios Fusion

Compared 48% of the time

More Nagios Fusion Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core

September 2025

Download Nagios Core product report

Buyer's Guide

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

September 2025

Download Nagios Fusion product report

Overview

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

Nagios

Nagios Enterprises delivers official products, services, and solutions for and around Nagios – the industry standard in enterprise-grade IT infrastructure monitoring. With millions of users worldwide, Nagios is the undisputed champion in the IT monitoring space. Our team of dedicated professionals works to ensure total customer satisfaction with all the services we provide. Our extensive network of partners helps extend Nagios services and solutions to new organizations and markets worldwide to meet a variety of business needs. Nagios Enterprises was founded in 2007 by Ethan Galstad. Ethan created what would later become known as Nagios in 1999, and currently serves as the President of Nagios Enterprises.

Nagios

Sample Customers

Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel

NuBlue, St.Elisabeth Hospital, Akamit Systems, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, ValueClick, Sunrise Banks

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core vs. Nagios Fusion

September 2025

Free Report: Nagios Core vs. Nagios Fusion

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