The Best MRTG Alternatives for Network Monitoring
MRTG (or Multi Router Traffic Grapher) is an open-source network monitoring tool that has served many IT professionals well. However, as technology evolves and network complexities grow, many are looking for more robust, feature-rich, or specialized solutions. Whether you need enhanced visualization, broader platform support, or more advanced alerting, there's a strong need to explore what other network monitoring tools are available as an MRTG alternative.
Top MRTG Alternatives
If you're looking to upgrade your network monitoring capabilities or find a tool that better fits your specific infrastructure, here are some of the leading alternatives to MRTG that offer a wide range of features and deployment options.
Zabbix
Zabbix is a powerful open-source monitoring solution that allows you to gather and analyze accurate statistics and performance metrics, visualize them, and get notified about current and potential issues without delay. It's a versatile MRTG alternative supporting various platforms including Free, Open Source, Linux, Self-Hosted, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD. Key features include Azure integration, Network Monitoring, Server Monitoring, Custom Dashboard, Enterprise capabilities, and Hardware Monitoring, making it a comprehensive choice for diverse IT environments.
Netdata
Netdata offers infrastructure-wide health monitoring and performance troubleshooting in one place, enabling collaboration with relevant data from your systems and applications. This open-source MRTG alternative runs on Free, Mac, Linux, Web, BSD, and Self-Hosted platforms, leveraging C, Python, JavaScript, Node.JS, and Bash. Its extensive features include Server Monitoring, Hardware Monitoring, Real-time Statistics, API support, Charts, Cloud Monitoring, Container monitoring, Database Monitoring, Docker support, Enterprise features, Kubernetes and Kubernetes Monitoring, Metrics, Network Monitoring, Performance Monitoring, Real-time monitoring, Time Series, and Website monitoring.
Nagios
Nagios is a powerful, freemium, and open-source monitoring system licensed under Nagios Enterprises that helps organizations identify and resolve IT infrastructure issues. As a robust MRTG alternative, it primarily runs on Linux and offers essential features such as Hardware Monitoring, Network Monitoring, On-premises software deployment, and Remote Management capabilities, making it a solid choice for traditional IT setups.
LibreNMS
LibreNMS is a fully featured, free, and open-source network monitoring system written in PHP that provides a wealth of features and device support. This excellent MRTG alternative is compatible with Linux, BSD, MySQL Community Edition, Apache HTTP Server, and JavaScript environments. Its key features include Network Discovery, comprehensive Network Monitoring, IT Asset Management, Networking functionalities, and SNMP Trap Support, offering a complete solution for network oversight.
PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG Network Monitor is an advanced freemium network monitoring solution designed for Windows that monitors network up/downtime, traffic, and usage. While not open-source, it's a strong MRTG alternative for Windows environments, featuring availability, performance, and bandwidth monitoring (SNMP), Portable deployment options, and a built-in Sniffer for in-depth analysis.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is a commercial and easy-to-use software that delivers real-time monitoring, alerting, and reporting for routers, switches, and other SNMP-enabled devices. Running on Windows, it serves as a powerful MRTG alternative for organizations needing robust, commercial-grade Network Monitoring and general Networking features.
NEXOG
NEXOG is a commercial, multi-vendor management solution available as Web, Self-Hosted, and Software as a Service (SaaS). It manages any network and every node over multiple protocols, including SNMP and NETCONF, offering quick implementation and simple use. As a specialized MRTG alternative, its primary feature is comprehensive Network Monitoring for complex, multi-vendor environments.
Choosing the right network monitoring tool is crucial for maintaining a healthy and efficient IT infrastructure. While MRTG has its merits, these alternatives offer diverse features, platform support, and pricing models to meet specific needs. We encourage you to explore these options further to find the best fit for your organization's monitoring requirements.