Observium
Observium: A mature self-hosted monitor with broad network coverage and unlimited-device plans. Ranked #25 of 54 in Network Monitoring by our editors (6.8/10); pricing: Free plan; best for unlimited-device self-hosted monitoring.
At a glance
- Editor score6.8 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forUnlimited-device self-hosted monitoring
- Free planYes
- Paid from£250/yr
- Synthetic checksYes
- Facts checked23 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Unlimited monitored devices, ports, and sensors
- Automatic discovery, topology maps, and traffic accounting
- Routing metrics, probes, REST API, and varied alert channels
Where it doesn't
- Self-hosted deployment is suited to teams managing Linux infrastructure
- Community releases arrive twice yearly rather than daily
- Enterprise support and included support time require the highest paid tier
Our verdict on Observium
Observium is a self-hosted network monitoring and management platform for network administrators and IT teams. It automatically discovers supported devices, services, and metrics, then presents web-based status views with real-time and historical performance data. Its scope covers home labs, small businesses, large enterprises, and service providers, with support for unlimited monitored devices, ports, and sensors across its editions.
The Community edition is open source and includes twice-yearly releases. Professional costs £250 per year with annual billing and adds daily software updates and fixes, plus threshold and traffic accounting systems. Enterprise costs £1,500 per year and adds additional support with 10 hours of included support time. All three editions retain unlimited monitored devices, ports, and sensors, making the paid tiers more about update cadence, accounting features, and support than capacity.
Observium’s feature set is broad for network-focused monitoring: automatic discovery, performance metrics, rule-based threshold, state, and syslog alerting, bandwidth tracking, LLDP/CDP topology maps, and ping and service probes for non-SNMP hosts. Routing coverage includes BFD, IP SLA, QoS, BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP. Integrations include collectd, munin, smokeping, RANCID, team-chat services, Telegram, webhooks, SMS providers, and Pushover. Choose Observium when unlimited-device self-hosting and network depth matter; consider another option if you prefer a hosted service or a narrower setup and maintenance burden.
Your product? Our editors can test Observium in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →
Observium pricing
All 3 Observium plans and prices →
Observium fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | £250/yr |
| Synthetic checks | Yes |
| Device limit | Not verified |
| Traffic monitoring | Yes |
| Topology maps | Yes |
| Alert channels | Not verified |
| Deployment | Self_hosted |
| Deployment | Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web, Linux |
| Support | Docs, Community |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise, Solo (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 4 integrations: collectd, Munin, Smokeping, RANCID |
| Pricing | Free plan (source) |
| Website | observium.org |
| Facts checked | 23 Sep 2026 |
Observium integrations
Observium lists 4 integrations on its own site.
- collectd
- Munin
- Smokeping
- RANCID
Alternatives to Observium
- ZabbixBroad infrastructure monitoring with a free self-hosted edition and paid cloud options.9.4
- CheckmkA broad hybrid monitoring platform with a capable free edition and costly paid entry.9.3
- ManageEngine OpManagerBroad monitoring, mapping, traffic analysis, automation, and distributed coverage across four editions.9.1
See all Observium alternatives →
Also Ranked In
Observium is ranked in 5 of our directories.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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