Observium
Observium is a self-hosted platform for monitoring and managing networks.
What Observium is
Observium is a self-hosted platform for monitoring and managing networks. It discovers supported devices and services, gathers performance metrics, and generates alerts. Its web interface presents network status, current metrics, and historical data, while discovery protocols can help map a network. The supported-device catalog lists 825 platform definitions, 367 named vendors, 21 device classes, and 916 associated MIBs. The free Community edition covers unlimited monitored devices, ports, and sensors and is positioned for home labs and small non-critical deployments. Professional adds threshold alerts and traffic accounting based on total transferred data or the 95th percentile. Enterprise includes 10 hours of support. Community releases arrive every six months, while Professional and Enterprise use an SVN-based release process with daily security and bug fixes and new features. A RESTful API supports integrations and automation; listed integrations include collectd, munin, smokeping, and RANCID. Professional is listed at £250 per year and Enterprise at £1500 per year.
Good
- Community covers unlimited devices, ports, and sensors
- Discovers supported devices and metrics automatically
- Web interface shows current and historical data
- Lists a RESTful API and integrations
Watch out
- Community updates and features follow a 6-to-12-month cycle
- Community releases arrive every six months
- Enterprise costs £1500 per year
Who it suits
Community may suit home users, evaluators, and small non-critical deployments. Professional is positioned for SMEs and ISPs, while Enterprise is aimed at large enterprises.
Verdict
Observium offers a free Community edition and paid editions with additional alerting, traffic accounting, or support. Choose based on deployment scale and how frequently you need updates.
Plans and prices
From Observium's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | Unlimited monitored devices, ports and sensors · intended for home labs and small non-critical deployments |
| Enterprise | — | Unlimited monitored devices, ports and sensors · includes 10 hours of support · ideal for large enterprises · £1500 / yr |
| Professional | — | Unlimited monitored devices, ports and sensors · ideal for SME and ISPs · £250 / yr |
The facts
Each one read from Observium's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Alerting
- Professional Edition provides threshold alerting for different entity types, and creates alert entries during discovery.checked 8 Oct 2026
- API
- The feature comparison lists a RESTful API, and the documentation describes it as available for custom integrations and automation.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Community release cadence
- Community Edition is distributed as six-monthly tar.gz releases under the QPL Open Source license, with updates and new features on a 6-to-12-month cycle.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Discovery
- Observium supports automatic discovery of supported devices and metrics, plus network mapping through discovery protocols.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The site lists integrations with collectd, munin, smokeping, and RANCID, with supplied collectors including Apache, BIND, DRBD, Memcached, MySQL, and NFS.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The maker describes Community as suited to home use, evaluation, labs, and small non-critical deployments, Professional for SMEs and ISPs, and Enterprise for large enterprises.checked 8 Oct 2026
- License and eligibility
- Professional subscriptions are available free of charge to registered charities and open-source projects.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Observium is a network monitoring and management platform that discovers devices and services, collects performance metrics, and generates alerts.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Subscription updates
- Professional and Enterprise editions use an SVN-based release mechanism that provides daily security and bug fixes and new features.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Support
- Enterprise includes 10 hours of support time; the Community documentation points users to informal support through Discord, IRC, and a mailing list.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Traffic accounting
- Professional Edition traffic accounting supports billing measurements by total transferred data and 95th percentile.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Web interface
- Its web interface displays network status, real-time performance metrics, and historical data.checked 8 Oct 2026
The company
- Company
- The site identifies Observium Limited as registered in the Isle of Man and gives its address as Viking House, Ramsey, IM8 1GB.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2007checked 28 Sep 2026
- Headquarters
- Ramsey, Isle of Manchecked 28 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Device coverage
- The supported-device page lists 825 platform definitions, 367 named vendors, 21 device classes, and 916 associated MIBs.checked 8 Oct 2026
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