Checkmk review

Checkmk is a strong choice for admins comfortable running their own monitoring server. On network gear it tracks packet rates, error rates, port state and bandwidth, plus CPU, fans, power supplies and temperature, and it supports vendors from Cisco and Dell to Extreme Networks and less common brands. Admins can set thresholds for each port, view bandwidth peaks in time series graphs, and add Speedtest, iperf or ntop through plugins. Checkmk says it discovers which metrics to monitor without extra configuration. The Community edition is free and open source and scales to about 100 hosts with community support. Pro starts at $275 per month billed annually, about $2.75 per host, and adds advanced analytics, automation, distributed monitoring and business-hours support. Ultimate starts at $400 per month for full-stack observability and multi-tenancy. The tradeoff is setup effort, since the self-hosted editions expect someone who knows Linux.

Who it is for

Technical teams that want open source roots, broad vendor coverage and per-host pricing they can see.

Price

Free Community edition; Pro from $275 per month billed annually for 100 hosts.

Ideal for growing enterprises. From $275 /month, billed annually
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 9, 2026.

Key features

• Port, packet rate, error rate and bandwidth monitoring for switches and routers
• Per-port thresholds and time series graphs for bandwidth peaks
• Automatic discovery of which metrics to monitor
• Distributed monitoring in Pro for large or multi-site setups
• 2,000+ pre-built integrations

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Community edition is free and open source, scalable to about 100 hosts
• Strength: Published USD per-host prices for Pro and Ultimate
• Strength: Supports a wide range of network vendors beyond the mainstream
• Weakness: Community edition has community support only
• Weakness: Reporting, automation and distributed monitoring need Pro
• Weakness: Self-hosted setup expects some Linux administration skill

Key facts

• Free edition: Community, about 100 hosts
• Pro: From $275 per month, about $2.75 per host
• Ultimate: From $400 per month
• Integrations: 2,000+ pre-built

Where it ranks

Checkmk is No. 4 in our Best Network Monitoring Tools verdict.