When you choose to host your website or infrastructure on a dedicated server or virtual server (VPS), it’s important to think about the best ways to maintain the health of the server and ensure that the services running on it are always available.

If your virtual server becomes unavailable or a service on it stops working, you could face customer loss and business disruption. Monitoring systems are designed to help prevent such issues. In 2025, there is an array of advanced solutions available for monitoring servers, cloud infrastructures, and services. To simplify your decision-making, we’ve put together a list of the top monitoring solutions you should consider for 2025.

1. Zabbix

Zabbix

Zabbix is an established IT infrastructure monitoring solution that was first released in 2001. Since then it has become one of the most widely used tools for monitoring servers, networks, applications, databases and cloud services. Zabbix is free and licensed under GPL which allows for flexibility to adapt to any company’s needs.

Key Features:

  • Supports a wide range of monitoring protocols (SNMP, IPMI, JMX, HTTP, Telnet, SSH).
  • Can collect data with or without agents.
  • Intuitive notification system with flexible triggers.
  • Data visualization through graphs and reports.
  • Supports automatic discovery of devices and dependencies.

Pros:

  • Completely free and has an active community.
  • High performance, suitable for scalable infrastructures.
  • Numerous monitoring templates for various services.

Cons:

  • Quite complex for new users.
  • The interface is not the most modern.
  • Configuration can be time-consuming for large networks.

Installation and Configuration Difficulty:

The base version is easy to install, but setting up agents, templates, and triggers can take significant time.

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2. Grafana

Grafana

Grafana is a data visualization tool created in 2014. Originally designed for time-series data it has evolved into a versatile tool for dashboards, monitoring and analytics. Grafana is used with Prometheus which is widely used for collecting and analyzing metrics in cloud and containerized environments like Kubernetes.

Key Features:

  • Prometheus collects metrics and allows flexible queries using the PromQL query language.
  • Grafana provides a powerful interface for creating dashboards.
  • Support for exporters to collect metrics from popular systems and services.
  • Good integration with Kubernetes and other cloud solutions.

Pros:

  • Excellent performance for high-load systems.
  • Wide selection of integrations and exporters.
  • Simple data visualization in Grafana.
  • Completely free to use.

Cons:

  • Requires additional configuration for exporters.
  • No built-in host status monitoring.
  • Requires knowledge of PromQL for complex queries.

Installation and Configuration Difficulty:

Installing Prometheus and Grafana is relatively simple, but configuring exporters for custom metrics can take some time.

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3. Datadog

Datadog

Datadog is a cloud based monitoring and analytics platform launched in 2010. It collects, visualizes and analyzes performance data from servers, applications, networks and other IT infrastructure components. Datadog is used by companies that work with cloud, microservices and containerized applications.

Key Features:

  • Supports over 500 integrations with popular tools (AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.).
  • Automatic service and metric discovery.
  • Modern interface with real-time data visualization.
  • Ability to analyze logs and performance within a single interface.

Pros:

  • Fast deployment due to its cloud architecture.
  • Easy to scale.
  • Intuitive interface.

Cons:

  • High cost, especially for large infrastructures.
  • Dependency on external cloud services.

Installation and Configuration Difficulty:

Installing the agent takes just a few minutes, and integration with services is intuitive. However, using complex metrics requires studying the documentation.

4. Checkmk

Checkmk

Checkmk is an IT infrastructure monitoring system created in 2008. It’s designed for easy and scalable monitoring of servers, applications, network devices, containers and cloud services. Checkmk is known for its performance and ease of setup, making it one of the most popular monitoring tools for small and big companies. To add a host you need to install an agent that will automatically connect and configure and within a few minutes data will be available in your dashboard.

Key Features:

  • Supports monitoring networks, servers, and applications.
  • Automatic service discovery on servers.
  • Built-in plugins for popular systems.
  • Flexible alerting system.

Pros:

  • Simple installation and initial setup.
  • Supports both agent-based and agentless monitoring.
  • Both free and paid versions are available.

Cons:

  • Limited functionality in the free version.
  • Paid license required for larger organizations.

Installation and Configuration Difficulty:

Checkmk is easy to install and configure, making it suitable even for beginner administrators.

5. New Relic

New Relic

New Relic is one of the leading solutions for real-time monitoring, focused on developers, operations teams and business analysts. The platform provides powerful tools to track metrics, errors and performance in web applications, mobile apps, server systems and cloud services.

Key Features:

  • Extensive set of features for application performance monitoring (APM).
  • Monitoring servers, databases, and logs.
  • Integration with CI/CD tools.
  • Flexible dashboards for data visualization.

Pros:

  • Excellent interface and analytical tools.
  • Deep analysis of applications.
  • Suitable for DevOps teams.

Cons:

  • High license cost.
  • Challenges with traditional infrastructure monitoring.

Installation and Configuration Difficulty:

Installing the agent is simple, and dashboard setup is intuitive.

Monitoring System Selection Recommendations

For Small Businesses or Startups

  • Recommended System: Zabbix
    • Why: Zabbix is a free, flexible tool that fits the needs of small businesses. It works well for monitoring servers, applications, and networks without a big cost.
    • When to Choose:
      • You need a free, adaptable solution.
      • Your infrastructure is simple and doesn’t rely on cloud services.
      • You’re willing to spend time on configuration, as it can take a while to set up.

For Cloud and Containerized Infrastructures

  • Recommended System: Grafana with Prometheus
    • Why: Grafana and Prometheus work great for cloud-based and containerized setups. Prometheus collects metrics, and Grafana lets you create dashboards to visualize the data.
    • When to Choose:
      • Your infrastructure uses Kubernetes, Docker, or other containers.
      • You need flexible dashboards and real-time metrics.
      • You want to analyze data with detailed graphs.

For Large Companies with High Cloud Service Requirements

  • Recommended System: Datadog
    • Why: Datadog is a cloud-based solution that monitors infrastructure, applications, containers, and logs. It’s easy to scale and set up.
    • When to Choose:
      • Your business uses cloud services and needs high scalability.
      • You need quick setup and real-time metrics.
      • Your budget allows you to pay for a cloud-based solution and you want easy integration.

For Personal Use and Beginners in Need of Easy Installation and Monitoring

  • Recommended System: Checkmk
    • Why: Checkmk is a simple-to-install tool that can monitor without agents or with them. It’s great for small and medium businesses.
    • When to Choose:
      • You need a quick installation with minimal configuration.
      • You want to monitor systems with or without agents.
      • You need a solution that integrates easily but doesn’t require a complex setup.

For Analyzing Web Application and Mobile Service Performance

  • Recommended System: New Relic
    • Why: New Relic is great for monitoring web applications, databases, and mobile services. It’s helpful for DevOps teams who need real-time error tracking and performance monitoring.
    • When to Choose:
      • You need to track application performance and errors.
      • You need to monitor response times and load in real time.
      • You work with microservices and want to integrate monitoring with CI/CD pipelines.

For Organizations with Diverse IT Infrastructure Monitoring Needs

  • Recommended System: Nagios
    • Why: Nagios is an old but very reliable monitoring system with many plugins and integrations. It works well for organizations with complex infrastructures that need detailed monitoring.
    • When to Choose:
      • You need a flexible, extensible solution with custom plugins.
      • Your infrastructure is complex and needs detailed monitoring at both the host and service levels.
      • You’re ready to spend time on configuration and training your team to use it.

Quick Comparison

System Best For Key Feature
Zabbix Small businesses and startups Free, flexible, and easy to scale
Grafana + Prometheus Cloud and containerized environments Real-time metrics and dashboards
Datadog Large companies with cloud services Easy integration and scalability
Checkmk Personal use and beginners Simple installation and monitoring
New Relic Web and mobile application monitoring Real-time performance tracking