shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Zabbix?

Enterprise-class, open-source monitoring that makes network and application monitoring simple. - zabbix.com

Depends. Zabbix fits orgs with ops staff who need to monitor many servers, network devices, or OT systems — the $0 license is genuine value at scale. Skip it if you want zero-maintenance SaaS or only need simple uptime alerts; a lighter tool will do.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources; no independent company names or review counts found, so confidence is medium.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityPaid support offered; quality unverified
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Open source (self-hosted)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Zabbix support contractCustom, fixed pricing
Zabbix CloudNot published

Best for

  • Ops teams monitoring many servers and devices
  • Orgs wanting self-hosted, license-free observability
  • IT plus OT hybrid environments
  • Cost-conscious teams with Linux skills

Not for

  • Solo founders wanting one uptime ping
  • Teams with nobody to run a monitoring server
  • Buyers wanting turnkey SaaS dashboards on day one
  • Anyone avoiding self-managed upgrades and patching

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Fixed support pricing replaces licenses, but tier prices aren't public — ask before budgeting

medium

Open source means you own upgrades and patching unless you pay for Zabbix Cloud

medium

CVE-2024-36462 resource-consumption bug fixed in 7.0.1rc1 — stay current or risk outages

medium

Self-hosting needs servers and a database — real running costs

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Open source with no license fees or per-device charges
  • Monitors both IT and OT environments at scale
  • Distributed monitoring of servers, network devices, VMs, and containers
  • Zabbix Cloud SaaS option removes on-prem maintenance burden
  • Works with Grafana for dashboards

Cons

  • Self-hosted setup is non-trivial; many third-party install guides exist
  • One CVE allowed admin users to run remote shell scripts
  • Free software, but you pay with ops time and infrastructure
  • Support quality has no public evidence in sources reviewed

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 10 sources - Open source with a CVE history; both listed issues are patched — keep versions current.

official x3review x4security x2news x1
  • CVE-2024-36462: uncontrolled resource consumption, Fixed in Zabbix 7.0.1rc1; unpatched instances could be exhausted by resource consumption.
  • CVE-2021-46088: remote code execution by admin users, Allowed admin users to execute arbitrary shell scripts on the server.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. No license fees, no per-device charges
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Manual installs; many third-party setup guides published
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Full-stack IT and OT monitoring, distributed
  • Support quality. Paid support offered; quality unverified
  • Security posture: 3/5. Two public CVEs, both patched
  • $0 License cost Open source, no per-device charges
  • Self-hosted or SaaS Deployment Zabbix Cloud managed option available
  • 2 Public CVEs in sources CVE-2024-36462, CVE-2021-46088

Pricing

Open source (self-hosted)

Free

  • No license fees
  • No per-device charges
  • Community support

Zabbix support contract

Not disclosed

  • Predictable fixed support pricing
  • No license fees regardless of size

Zabbix Cloud

Not published

  • Fully-managed SaaS
  • No on-prem installation or maintenance

Security

Open source with a CVE history; both listed issues are patched — keep versions current.

  • CVE-2024-36462: uncontrolled resource consumptionFixed in Zabbix 7.0.1rc1; unpatched instances could be exhausted by resource consumption.⁴
  • CVE-2021-46088: remote code execution by admin usersAllowed admin users to execute arbitrary shell scripts on the server.⁵

What users say

The quotable review in the sources is vendor-published and positive; independent review volume found was thin.

“It is an excellent monitoring and observability tool, with many tools to maintain the entire infrastructure.”
Gartner Peer Insights via Zabbix.com

Alternatives

Compare Zabbix with each alternative.

  • Grafana

    Free dashboards and hosted cloud option; pairs with Prometheus

  • PRTG

    Simpler Windows-based network monitoring for small teams

  • Datadog

    Turnkey SaaS observability; easier start, pricier at scale

    Zabbix vs Datadog
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources; no independent company names or review counts found, so confidence is medium.

Free, deep self-hosted monitoring. Great at scale; overkill for simple uptime needs.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources; no independent company names or review counts found, so confidence is medium.

Sources

  1. Zabbix official sitezabbix.com
    official
  2. Zabbix site (Zabbix Cloud)zabbix.com
    official
  3. Zabbix GitHub repositorygithub.com
    official
  4. Critical vulnerability found in Zabbixsecurityweek.com
    security
  5. CVE-2021-46088: Zabbix RCEsentinelone.com
    security
  6. Zabbix – the scalable monitoringtbs.tech
    news
  7. Zabbix Monitoring and Observability Platforminteroperable-europe.ec.europa.eu
    review
  8. Zabbix 7.0 install on EC2 + RDSblog.serverworks.co.jp
    review
  9. Zabbix: An Open-Source Monitoring Solutionvirtualizationreview.com
    review
  10. Most affordable observability and APMcooperaiq.com
    review

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