What is Zabbix?

Zabbix is an enterprise-class, open-source distributed monitoring solution for networks, servers, cloud services, virtual machines, and applications, offering real-time problem detection, alerting, and visualization.

SubcategoryIT Infrastructure and Network Monitoring
Version7.4.14 (latest); 7.0.30 (LTS)
PriceFree

What is Zabbix?

Introduction to Zabbix — what it does and who it is for.

Zabbix is an enterprise-class, open-source distributed monitoring solution for networks, servers, cloud services, virtual machines, and applications, offering real-time problem detection, alerting, and visualization.

What do you need to run Zabbix?

System requirements, OS support, and hardware needs for Zabbix.

Zabbix scales from ~2 CPU cores/8 GiB RAM (small) to 32 cores/96 GiB RAM (very large), needs PHP 8.2–8.5 and a supported database (MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL) with Apache or Nginx.

Operating system
FreeBSDHP-UXIBM AIX (server) WindowsLinuxmacOSmacOS (agent)NetBSDOpenBSDSolaris
Devices
DesktopMobileServer
Memory~8 GiB RAM (small, ~1,000 metrics) up to ~96 GiB RAM (very large, ~1,000,000 metrics)
StorageDepends on retention; example ~10.9 GB for 3,000 items polled every 60s over 30 days
Processor~2 CPU cores (small) up to ~32 CPU cores (very large)

Programming languages

  • C#
  • Go
  • Java
  • PHP

How much does Zabbix cost?

Pricing plans, license type, and availability for Zabbix.

Zabbix software is free and open source; Zabbix SIA separately sells commercial support subscriptions from Silver (EUR 245/mo) to Global (custom pricing).

Price summaryFree (Open Source)
License detailsZabbix 7.0+ is AGPLv3; versions up to 6.4 were GPLv2. Commercial support subscriptions sold separately.
AvailabilityAvailable
PlanDescriptionPrice
Software (self-hosted, open source)No license fee; unlimited hosts, devices, users, metrics, alerts.Free
Silver8x5 support, 1-business-day response, billed annually€245,00
Gold8x5 support, 4-hour response, billed annually€660,00
Platinum24x7 support, 2-hour responseContact Sales
Enterprise24x7 support, 1.5-hour responseContact Sales
Global24x7 support, 1-hour responseContact Sales

What is Zabbix used for?

Key features, use cases, and capabilities of Zabbix.

Zabbix collects metrics broadly, detects problems in real time, sends multi-channel alerts, offers SLA/business service monitoring, templates, and a 200+ method API with HA/failover.

Key features

  • Metric collection from any source
  • real-time problem detection with trend prediction/anomaly detection
  • multi-channel alerting (email, SMS, Slack, MS Teams, Telegram, webhooks)
  • customizable dashboards
  • business service monitoring with SLA reporting
  • templates and cloud/Kubernetes/VMware integrations
  • REST/JSON-RPC API (200+ methods)
  • high availability with automatic failover

Use cases

  • Network and server infrastructure monitoring
  • cloud/container (Kubernetes) monitoring
  • application and database performance monitoring
  • business service and SLA monitoring.

Who should use Zabbix?

Target users, industries, and ideal use cases for Zabbix.

Zabbix serves IT infrastructure, sysadmin, and DevOps/NOC teams needing enterprise-scale monitoring across many industries.

Industries
AerospaceBanking & FinanceBroadcasting & TelecomeducationEnergy & ChemicalsGovernmenthealthcareITLogistics & Transportationretail
Target audienceIT Infrastructure Teams, System Administrators, DevOps And NOC Teams At Organizations Needing Enterprise-scale Monitoring
Integration complexityModerate

How is Zabbix deployed?

Deployment options, API, and hosting for Zabbix.

Zabbix is open source and self-hostable on-premises or cloud on Linux/Unix, with Windows agent support.

API integration
Open source
Self-hosting

How do you get started with Zabbix?

Installation and onboarding steps for Zabbix.

New users can download Zabbix, consult official documentation, or access source on GitHub.

What are the pros and cons of Zabbix?

Balanced review of strengths and weaknesses of Zabbix.

On G2 (4.3/5, 209 reviews), reviewers praise customizable alerting, broad monitoring scope, and free/unlimited usage, while criticizing the learning curve, limited dashboards, and dated interface.

ProCon
Highly customizable alertingSteep learning curve for initial setup
broad monitoring scopelimited dashboard customization vs newer tools
strong third-party integrationsinterface feels dated
free/unlimited hosts/metrics/userslarger deployments require significant hardware
active user community

Where can you learn more about Zabbix?

Documentation, support, and official links for Zabbix.

Zabbix provides documentation, an API reference, GitHub repo, subreddit, Discord, YouTube, and X account.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zabbix?

Zabbix is an enterprise-class, open-source distributed monitoring solution for networks, servers, cloud services, virtual machines, and applications, offering real-time problem detection, alerting, and visualization.

Is Zabbix free?

Zabbix software is free and open source; Zabbix SIA separately sells commercial support subscriptions from Silver (EUR 245/mo) to Global (custom pricing).

What is Zabbix used for?

Zabbix collects metrics broadly, detects problems in real time, sends multi-channel alerts, offers SLA/business service monitoring, templates, and a 200+ method API with HA/failover.

Where can I get Zabbix?

You can get Zabbix via the official website, the install page, GitHub and the source repository. See the resources section on this page for direct links.

Who should use Zabbix?

Zabbix serves IT infrastructure, sysadmin, and DevOps/NOC teams needing enterprise-scale monitoring across many industries.

What do you need to run Zabbix?

Zabbix scales from ~2 CPU cores/8 GiB RAM (small) to 32 cores/96 GiB RAM (very large), needs PHP 8.2–8.5 and a supported database (MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL) with Apache or Nginx.

How do you get started with Zabbix?

New users can download Zabbix, consult official documentation, or access source on GitHub.

How is Zabbix deployed?

Zabbix is open source and self-hostable on-premises or cloud on Linux/Unix, with Windows agent support.

Who developed Zabbix?

Zabbix is developed by Zabbix SIA (Zabbix LLC), headquartered in Riga, Latvia.

What are the pros and cons of Zabbix?

On G2 (4.3/5, 209 reviews), reviewers praise customizable alerting, broad monitoring scope, and free/unlimited usage, while criticizing the learning curve, limited dashboards, and dated interface.