Best Metrics Monitoring Tools in 2026
Updated
In short: Zabbix is ranked #1 of 27 as of 3 October 2026, ahead of Checkmk and Azure Monitor. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Checkmk. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Amazon CloudWatch Logs at $0.03/mo.
27 metrics monitoring tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Data retention | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zabbix | 8.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | 50 /mo | — | View |
| 2 | Checkmk | 8.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $275/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 3 | Azure Monitor | 8.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 4 | VictoriaMetrics | 8.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $200/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 5 | InfluxDB | 8.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 6 | Nagios XI | 7.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 7 | LogicMonitor | 7.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $16/mo | No | 16 /mo | — | View |
| 8 |  Netdata | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $4.50/mo | Yes | 4.5 /mo | — | View |
| 9 | SigNoz | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $19/mo | Yes | 49 /mo | — | View |
| 10 | Amazon CloudWatch Logs | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $0.03/mo | No | — | — | View |
| 11 | Prometheus | 7.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 12 | Icinga | 6.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 13 |  SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | 8 /mo | — | View |
| 14 | groundcover | 6.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $30/mo | Yes | 30 /mo | — | View |
| 15 |  ScienceLogic SL1 | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | 5 /mo | — | View |
| 16 | Google Cloud Managed Service for Prometheus | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | 730 days | View |
| 17 | OpenObserve | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 18 | Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | 1,095 days | View |
| 19 |  Thanos | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 20 | Google Cloud Monitoring | 5.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 21 |  Hosted Graphite | 5.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 22 | M3 | 5.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 23 | PulseBoard | 5.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 24 | StatsD | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 25 |  Chronosphere Application Observability | 4.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which metrics monitoring tool is ranked first on Inferse?
Zabbix is ranked #1 of 27 with a score of 8.8. Checkmk is second and Azure Monitor third.
How many of these have a free plan?
10 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Amazon CloudWatch Logs has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.03/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.