Free and open first
Best Container Monitoring in 2026
Keeping tabs on containers can involve watching resource use, logs, images, and activity at runtime. Compare container log collection and metrics with image monitoring, runtime events, and resource alerts. Supported platforms can help you assess fit for your environment, while free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. Guance Container Monitoring, Middleware, and Netdata are among the entries, along with Paessler PRTG Network Monitor and Checkmk. Check which monitoring signals and platform support each option lists for your development or operations work.
- 49 apps
- Research read 23 Sept 2026
- How the order is worked out
- 1
Checkmk
Free plan Open source AndroidAPIiPhone+5Checkmk offers broad infrastructure coverage and several monitoring methods, with a free Community option for smaller environments.
- 2
Coroot
Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hosted+2Choose Coroot if you need self-hosted observability with service maps, tracing, profiling and incident analysis.
- 3
Glances
Free plan Open source AndroidAPILinux+4Glances covers a broad set of system metrics and offers several ways to monitor remotely or export statistics. Check its Python requirement and optional dependency setup against the features you need.
- 4
Netdata
Free plan Open source AndroidAPIiPhone+5Netdata combines infrastructure metrics, logs, alerts, and troubleshooting across cloud and on-premises deployment options.
- 5
Portainer
Free plan Open source AndroidAPIiPhone+3Portainer brings container and multi-cluster management into a graphical interface, with Git deployment workflows and governance controls.
- 6
Uptrace
Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+3Uptrace offers flexible analysis and deployment options for OpenTelemetry data, from a free Cloud plan to self-hosted editions.
- 7
- 8
ctop
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1ctop provides a focused container view with practical navigation, filtering, and inspection controls.
- 9
DockMon
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1DockMon brings container monitoring, operations and alerting together for standalone Docker environments. Its stated lack of Swarm and Kubernetes support is important for teams using those platforms.
- 10
Elastic Observability
by Elastic ObservabilityFree plan APILinuxMac+3Elastic Observability combines telemetry analysis, monitoring, and deployment options, with usage-based Serverless rates listed by data type.
- 11
Agrafa
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1Agrafa provides focused, self-hosted checks and alerting for nodes and services, with outbound agent connections and operator-controlled infrastructure.
- 12
Glances
Free plan AndroidAPILinux+4Glances combines live system monitoring with remote access, container monitoring, and a wide range of data exports. Check the Python requirement and XML-RPC host guidance when setting it up.
- 13
Guance Container Monitoring
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+5Guance brings workload changes and multiple telemetry types into a shared monitoring view.
- 14
Grafana Cloud Kubernetes Monitoring
Free plan LinuxSelf-hostedWebGrafana Cloud Kubernetes Monitoring combines fleet visibility, alerts, and cost estimates in a cloud-only service. Check the setup requirements and separate telemetry charges when planning its use.
- 15
Icinga
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+2Icinga offers self-hosted monitoring with a free edition and options for distributed setups, certificate monitoring, and integrations.
- 16
Maintenant
Free plan APILinuxMac+3Maintenant brings container, endpoint, certificate, and resource monitoring into a self-hosted dashboard, with plan-specific alerting and history limits.
- 17
Middleware
Free plan AndroidAPIExtension+5Middleware covers a broad set of monitoring and observability products, with a free plan and a usage-billed option. Check the plan limits and retention period against your needs.
- 18
Nagios XI
Free plan APILinuxMac+3Nagios XI offers self-hosted monitoring, a limited free edition, and perpetual paid licenses priced by node count.
- 19
groundcover
by groundcoverFree plan LinuxSelf-hostedWebgroundcover combines eBPF-based telemetry collection with cloud and on-premises deployment options. Compare the retention, support, and per-host plan details with your monitoring needs.
- 20
New Relic Kubernetes Monitoring
Free plan LinuxSelf-hostedWeb+1New Relic Kubernetes Monitoring covers cluster telemetry, application correlation, and alerting in one integration.
- 21
OneUptime
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1OneUptime brings service monitoring and incident response together, with both hosted plans and self-hosted deployment options.
- 22
Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+5PRTG combines on-premises infrastructure monitoring with alerts, reports, dashboards, and an API. Check sensor needs and the single-license-per-server limit when choosing a plan.
- 23
Prometheus
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+2Prometheus provides a free monitoring and alerting toolkit with flexible metric collection and querying. Its stated accuracy limitation makes it unsuitable for per-request billing workloads.
- 24
Pulse Intelligence
Free plan APILinuxMac+3Choose Pulse Intelligence if your team wants an open-source, self-hosted threat intelligence workspace with feed ingestion, enrichment, saved hunts, exports, and scheduled reports.
- 25
Sematext Container Monitoring
Free plan APILinuxMac+3Sematext brings container metrics, logs, and events into shared monitoring views with multiple deployment options.
#1Places #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 on this list can be bought by the makers of the software on it. See the price
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