Best Cloud Monitoring in 2026
Updated
In short: Netdata is ranked #1 of 21 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Checkmk and Grafana Cloud Application Observability. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Checkmk. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Grafana Cloud Application Observability at $0.03/mo.
Cloud monitoring tools help you keep watch over services and infrastructure running across cloud environments. Compare cloud providers, Kubernetes monitoring and serverless monitoring to see which workloads are covered. Log retention and metrics retention show how long telemetry is kept, while synthetic monitoring adds another capability to consider. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing can help frame access and cost. The ranking starts with Netdata, Checkmk and Grafana Cloud Application Observability, followed by Nagios XI and VictoriaMetrics. Zabbix, Prometheus and Mackerel are also among the first entries. Use the listed criteria to compare the monitoring coverage and retention options that matter to your operations.
21 cloud monitoring ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Recognised 40% · Phone app 26% · Documented 20% · Free plan 14% of the score
- 1 Netdata iPhone + Android RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.9$4.50/mo
- 2 Checkmk No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4$275/mo
- 3 Grafana Cloud Application Observability No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4$0.03/mo
- 4 Nagios XI No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4Free
- 5 VictoriaMetrics No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4$200/mo
- 6 Prometheus No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.2Free
- 7 Mackerel No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.1¥2,180/mo
- 8 Zabbix No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8
- 9 Sysdig Monitor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.7 Cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure
- 10 Atatus API Analytics No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Cloud providers: AWS, Azure, GCP
- 11 MetricFire No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6$16/mo Cloud providers: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud
- 12 DigitalOcean Monitoring No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.5 Cloud providers: DigitalOceanMetrics retention: 14 days
- 13 Alibaba CloudMonitor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.4 Cloud providers: Alibaba Cloud; other cloud providers supported through Hybrid Cloud Monitoring (providers not individually specified on the cited page)Metrics retention: 15 days
- 14 Akamai Cloud Longview No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Cloud providers: Akamai Cloud
- 15 HostedMetrics No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Cloud providers: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud PlatformMetrics retention: 730 days
- 16 Pixie No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2Free Cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud
- 17 Tencent Cloud Monitor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Cloud providers: Tencent Cloud
- 18 Robusta No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.1 Cloud providers: AWS, Azure, GCP
- 19 Chronosphere Application Observability No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 4.8
- 20 Google Cloud Monitoring No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 4.8
- 21 Komodor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 4.7
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which cloud monitoring is ranked first on Samsung Mobile US Press?
Netdata is ranked #1 of 21 with a score of 7.9. Checkmk is second and Grafana Cloud Application Observability third.
How many of these have a free plan?
8 of the 21 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Grafana Cloud Application Observability has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.03/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation. Paid placements never change a rank.