netdata
Per-second monitoring for servers and containers that installs in one command and needs almost no configuration.
Mature enough to put in production this quarter.
Teams running their own servers with no dedicated ops person and no appetite for a monitoring bill.
The entry tier of Datadog or New Relic.
It is generous with metrics and with disk. The GPL licence is a non-issue for internal monitoring but matters if you ever embed it.
Install it on your busiest box and leave it a week. The dashboard usually finds something you did not know was wrong.
GPL-3.0. This is a copyleft or source-available licence with obligations attached. Read the LICENSE file before shipping it inside a commercial product.
This is a reading of the licence label, not legal advice.
The numbers
Maintainers describe it as: “The fastest path to AI-powered full stack observability, even for lean teams.”
netdata, in short
- Should a small team use netdata?
- Adopt now. Mature enough to put in production this quarter. Teams running their own servers with no dedicated ops person and no appetite for a monitoring bill.
- What does netdata actually do?
- Per-second monitoring for servers and containers that installs in one command and needs almost no configuration.
- What does netdata replace?
- The entry tier of Datadog or New Relic.
- What is the downside of netdata?
- It is generous with metrics and with disk. The GPL licence is a non-issue for internal monitoring but matters if you ever embed it.
- Can netdata be used in a commercial product?
- Its licence is GPL-3.0, which carries obligations or restrictions for commercial use. Read the LICENSE file, and get a lawyer's read before you ship it inside a product you sell.
Head to head
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