Introducing our SaaS version of Checkmk

As we step into 2025, we are happy to introduce the SaaS version of Checkmk Cloud, set to launch today. This new addition to the Checkmk product family offers a streamlined option for organizations seeking efficient and hassle-free infrastructure monitoring.

Checkmk Cloud is a fully managed, software-as-a-service solution designed to get you to monitor your infrastructure in just minutes – no installation required. With this plug-and-play version, we handle all the backend processes, including setup, maintenance, and updates, so you can focus entirely on monitoring. By offloading these administrative tasks, you can optimize your team’s efficiency while reducing operational overhead.

For those wondering, Checkmk Cloud (self-hosted) isn’t going anywhere. You’ll still have the option to download and deploy Checkmk Cloud on your servers or preferred cloud provider, managing it entirely on your own. The SaaS version is an alternative specifically designed for companies looking for a quick and resource-light way to start monitoring, without sacrificing any core functionalities.

In the remainder of this article, we’ll explore what’s new and highlight the capabilities of Checkmk Cloud (SaaS).

The key idea behind the SaaS version of Checkmk Cloud was to have a fast, secure, and hassle-free cloud and server monitoring product. We leveraged the work done on Checkmk Cloud and brought it to the cloud ourselves, allowing anybody to use it. The technical entry barrier is lowered, and it is incredibly easy to start using Checkmk now thanks to a simple onboarding guide and predefined settings.

Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) unifies the monitoring of your serverless applications, cloud servers, and cloud databases into a single, accessible platform available from anywhere. Like Checkmk Cloud (self-hosted), it supports hybrid monitoring, and enables you to oversee both cloud-based and on-premises infrastructures seamlessly. Whether it’s web, email, databases, or file servers, you can monitor it all by simply logging into your account from any location.

Companies can avoid overloading their IT team more than necessary, and use it for more effective tasks. Leave it to us to handle actual and virtual hardware, focus straight on the monitoring and get instant insights into the IT infrastructure. SaaS also means you are future-proof: all the latest security patches and cutting-edge features are automatically applied by us, without worries of being behind some or having outdated software versions. Loss of data is also not an issue that should worry you, since with Checkmk Cloud (SaaS), you also get automatic backups. Everything is set up for you to start monitoring in as few steps as possible.

Those wondering about data protection and privacy will be glad to know that you can opt to have your Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) data hosted in your region(US on 18th March) at sign up. Data will stay there, unless you ask to move it, for up to 2 years, granting you a good deal of historical data analysis.

If it looks like a product that comes at a high cost, you don’t have to worry about the price either. Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) is designed to fit most budgets with a straightforward and flexible pricing model. We’ve retained the same price-per-service structure as the other commercial editions of Checkmk, while ensuring the entry pricing is significantly lower than using Checkmk Cloud (self-hosted).

With Checkmk Cloud (SaaS), you can monitor anywhere between 1,000 and 50,000 services, offering ample scalability to match your infrastructure’s growth. The transparent pricing curve allows you to select the service tier that suits your needs and instantly see the costs. Plus, with an annual subscription, you’re set for the entire year – no hidden fees or surprises.

And, to top it all, Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) comes with advanced support included, independently of how many services you are using. Contact our Sales team to get a personalized quote or start the trial for 14 days, with 2,500 services included, no credit card required. Feel free to test Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) as much as you want during the trial, your personal data will be immediately deleted at the end of it unless you subscribe.

While Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) already includes all the essential features you need for effective monitoring, we’re actively working to expand its capabilities. Currently, monitoring resources that are not accessible via the internet, such as SNMP devices, NAS, vSphere, Proxmox, and certain containerized environments, remains under development. This includes Kubernetes clusters and distributions like EKS, AKS, GKS, and OpenShift. Support for SNMP-based devices is a priority and will be introduced later this year as we continue enhancing the platform.

These requirements can be more challenging for large enterprises with heavily containerized environments and complex orchestration systems. However, our initial focus is on small and mid-sized businesses that need a powerful yet easy-to-use monitoring solution. With support for up to 50,000 monitored services and 20 users per subscription, our offering provides more than enough capacity for most IT infrastructures.

We start with an annual subscription of €2 per 10 services, for a minimum of €2400. A pay-as-you-go model of subscription will come later in 2025. This lowers entry barriers, especially for small organizations, and establishes a transparent pricing. The subscription costs should be comparably lower than most alternatives on the market. To buy your subscription, just hit “Request a Quote” to receive an offer tailored to your needs.

You can take advantage of our 14-day free trial to explore the product and its features before making a commitment.

The SaaS version of Checkmk Cloud includes many of the proven features that make Checkmk so easy to implement and use – such as auto-registration of hosts, the agent bakery, and our REST API.

Lots. There are numerous features and improvements that we have planned for 2025 and 2026. We clearly want to address the most important features missing compared to the Checkmk Cloud (self-hosted) and that means improving the network monitoring coverage. Monitoring devices and environments that are possible to monitor only via SNMP is a priority for us to make Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) a complete hybrid monitoring solution.

At the moment, systems that are not accessible via the internet, including API-only systems, are not yet supported by Checkmk Cloud (SaaS). Expanding this capability is also a top priority for us. We are excited to be working on enabling support for Kubernetes and its various distributions – both cloud-based and on-premises – in the near future.

More broadly, enhancing monitoring coverage for on-premises and hybrid environments is a key focus for Checkmk Cloud (SaaS) this year. Our goal is to ensure seamless monitoring across all infrastructure types, removing current limitations, so you do not have to worry about what is possible to monitor in your infrastructure.

A smaller improvement that we aim to introduce soon is the signing in with SAML using Microsoft Entra ID. That will allow an even more seamless onboarding for companies already using the Microsoft SSO (single sign-on) system.