Infrastructure Monitoring That Works in 60 Seconds

It depends on your use case. For infrastructure monitoring, Netdata is superior with zero-configuration, real-time performance, and predictable costs. For distributed tracing and APM, SigNoz provides native capabilities. Many organizations use both: SigNoz for application traces, Netdata for infrastructure context. If your primary need is infrastructure visibility, Netdata delivers better results with dramatically less operational complexity.

Netdata uses predictable per-node pricing with unlimited metrics and logs, while SigNoz uses consumption-based pricing charging per GB for logs, traces, and metrics. Netdata’s flat rate delivers 90% cost reduction compared to consumption-based models, eliminates budget anxiety, and encourages comprehensive monitoring without financial penalties.

Architectural difference: Netdata’s distributed edge architecture processes data where it’s collected, while SigNoz centralizes everything in ClickHouse. This means Netdata queries execute in parallel across independent agents (sub-2-second response at any scale), while SigNoz queries can degrade with scale due to centralized database bottlenecks. Netdata maintains 16× faster query performance through distributed processing and optimized storage.

No. Netdata’s autonomous agents eliminate complex infrastructure management entirely. Each agent is self-contained with local storage, ML, and alerting - no ClickHouse clusters, no Kafka brokers, no ZooKeeper coordination. SigNoz users describe this operational burden as a ‘full-time job.’ Netdata delivers zero-maintenance monitoring that just works.

Yes, and more reliably. Netdata deploys with a single Helm command and auto-discovers all clusters, nodes, pods, and containers instantly. SigNoz requires complex multi-component deployments with more potential failure points. Netdata provides production-ready Kubernetes monitoring in under 10 minutes with forward-compatible upgrades.

Netdata supports OpenTelemetry metrics and logs ingestion, with native OTLP trace ingestion planned for Q2 2026. For organizations where distributed tracing is critical today, use both tools: SigNoz for application traces, Netdata for infrastructure context. When traces show slowness, Netdata immediately reveals the system-level bottleneck causing the issue.

Netdata provides native Windows support (all Server editions, Windows 10+) with Windows Event Logs, Hyper-V, IIS, MSSQL, and Active Directory monitoring. SigNoz does not support Windows nodes at all - a critical gap for mixed-OS environments. Netdata delivers unified monitoring across Linux and Windows with the same interface.

Yes, significantly. Netdata trains 18 ML models per metric at the edge with zero configuration, achieving 10^-36 theoretical false positive rate through consensus. SigNoz uses centralized algorithms with limited coverage. Netdata’s edge-based ML provides 99% false positive reduction in anomaly detection while analyzing every metric automatically - no manual setup or cloud dependencies required.

SigNoz requires managing ClickHouse clusters, Kafka brokers, and ZooKeeper ensembles. Users describe this as ‘spending more time wrestling with ClickHouse than debugging applications.’ Netdata’s autonomous agents eliminate this entirely - no databases to tune, no message queues to manage, no operational expertise required.

Absolutely, and many organizations do. They’re complementary: SigNoz excels at application-level observability (traces, APM), while Netdata provides infrastructure-level visibility (systems, networks, resources). Together, they deliver complete observability from application to infrastructure. When SigNoz traces show high latency, Netdata reveals whether a system bottleneck is the root cause.

Netdata is SOC 2 Type 2 certified with RBAC, SSO, and SCIM included in the Business tier. SigNoz is not SOC 2 certified and restricts SSO/RBAC to higher-priced Enterprise tiers. For regulated industries requiring compliance, Netdata provides enterprise security at predictable costs with certification from day one.

Netdata: Zero learning curve. Automatic discovery, algorithmic dashboards, no query languages required. SigNoz: Steep learning curve. Requires OpenTelemetry expertise, ClickHouse SQL knowledge, YAML configuration skills, and database tuning experience. Netdata is accessible to all engineers regardless of experience level, while SigNoz demands specialized skills.

Netdata has 12 years of production maturity with 100,000+ node deployments and 76,300+ GitHub stars. SigNoz users report intermittent behavior and upgrade issues. Netdata delivers battle-tested reliability with forward-compatible upgrades and proven stability at scale - no operational surprises.

Yes, Netdata supports OpenTelemetry metrics and logs via integrations including native OTLP ingestion through otelcol.plugin and otel-plugin. Native OTLP trace ingestion is planned for Q2 2026. For infrastructure monitoring, Netdata’s native collectors are more efficient than OTLP overhead and require zero instrumentation.

Netdata: Data sovereignty by design. All metrics and logs stay on your infrastructure - only metadata travels to Netdata Cloud for unified dashboards. SigNoz: Self-hosted option available but still requires ClickHouse management. Netdata provides complete data control without operational complexity, ideal for regulated industries and data residency requirements.