Product usage analytics is coming to Checkmk
on May 13, 2026
When you choose a monitoring tool for your IT infrastructure, you probably have a fairly specific set of requirements in mind: features you want to use, visualizations you need to customize, or notification strategies that you have to implement to ensure quick reactions to observed problems in your environment. Checkmk offers numerous features and opportunities for customization that allow you to set up your monitoring just right for your organization’s specific needs.
This versatility means that it’s probably impossible to find any two productive Checkmk set-ups that are exactly alike. Everyone uses a particular subset of features and check plug-ins, either from the Checkmk Exchange or developed on-demand.
In the development and continuous improvement of Checkmk, we aim to provide the best value to as many users as possible. In practical terms, this means that when setting our roadmap for future releases, we want to take into account which features (or combinations of features) are used most frequently across users and editions. On the flip side of these considerations, we also occasionally deprecate legacy features. If we are aware that a seemingly obscure or obsolete feature is in fact still being used actively by a considerable number of people, we can avoid deprecating these features, or plan a migration path that allows you to update your sites without losing something that really matters to you.
With Checkmk 2.5.0, we are adding a product usage analytics functionality to all editions. This functionality is also included in Checkmk 2.4.0p26 and above, and in Checkmk 2.3.0p47 and above. While product usage analytics will always be enabled for Checkmk Cloud sites, activating it is completely optional in all other editions.
With this new feature, we can gain insights about usage patterns and trends that can then inform our product development decisions.
By enabling the transmission of anonymized product usage data to us, you get the chance to participate in shaping the future of Checkmk – by allowing us to look towards your usage behavior to guide our priorities.
We are fully aware that there are circumstances in which agreeing to the transmission of product usage data simply isn’t an option. We trust you to make the decision that works best for you and your organization. And of course, if you keep the transmission of usage data disabled in your sites, we’d still love to hear your product feedback through other channels, such as the community forum!
TL;DR:
The new product usage analytics feature can be activated to transmit occasional quantitative usage data from your sites to Checkmk GmbH. Analyzing the received data allows us to prioritize the most in-demand features and avoid deprecations of features that are still in active use.
- The functionality aims to complement qualitative user feedback with quantitative data about actual usage.
- The anonymous data that can be collected from a site includes general information about the Checkmk edition and version, statistics on object counts, and quantitative data about the kinds of checks that are used – identifying details like IP addresses or host names are not included.
- Except for Checkmk Cloud, the feature is disabled by default and can optionally be activated by an administrator, after which it sends usage data collected via encrypted livestatus queries once every 30 days.
The benefits of product usage analytics, for Checkmk users and for Checkmk as a company
Checkmk has always involved users’ opinions and suggestions in product discovery and decisions: we run regular community surveys and we take into account input from the forum, the Ideas Portal, Reddit, and other platforms. These channels are especially great for qualitative feedback, and we have no intentions of reducing this type of engagement.
By adding product usage analytics capabilities to Checkmk, we aim to complement the qualitative feedback we receive from the community with quantitative data about actual product usage. This will help us discover usage trends across users, editions and versions. When we base our product decisions on these trends, we know that we are truly doing the most we can to support our users in monitoring with Checkmk the way that works best for them.
Unlike surveys or forums, the transmission of product usage data is a way to passively let us know how you are using Checkmk. Once you opt in and enable the transmission, it will run in the background – without slowing down your sites or straining your network, of course. If you change your mind later on, you can always change this setting in your sites to reflect your current preference.
What does product usage data look like in Checkmk?
We want to learn about how you work with Checkmk, and which components, features or integrations are most frequently used. What your monitoring sites contain is none of our business! When you opt in to sending product usage data to us, that data will never contain any of your IP addresses, site names, license information, host names, service names or folder names.
Your data will be processed anonymously, and we will never store information about which site sent which usage analytics record.
A full description of the data fields that will be included in the transmitted usage data can be found in our product usage analytics manifest.
Below is an excerpt from a usage analytics record collected from an active monitoring site.
{
"id": "2a936d22-f397-4932-87dc-dca312fa7340",
"count_hosts": 598,
"count_services": 11605,
"count_folders": 35,
"edition": "ultimate",
"cmk_version": "2.5.0p1",
"timestamp": 1774597143,
"checks": {
"check_mk_active-cmk_inv": {
"count": 595,
"count_hosts": 595,
"count_disabled": 0
},
"check_mk-uptime": {
"count": 288,
"count_hosts": 288,
"count_disabled": 0
},
"check_mk-kube_pod_status": {
"count": 217,
"count_hosts": 217,
"count_disabled": 0
}
},
"grafana": null
}The record contains general information about the edition and version of Checkmk that the site is using, the exact time at which the record was created, and statistics about the number of objects of different kinds that are set up in the site.
The field named checks contains quantitative data about each kind of check that has been found in the monitoring data. Because check names are fairly specific, they may in certain cases contain identifying information, such as a company’s name. If this is an issue for you, we recommend inspecting a dry-run record of your own site’s usage data to see what information is contained in it. This allows you to make an informed decision for or against activating product usage analytics.
How to enable product usage analytics in your Checkmk site
If you use Checkmk Cloud, product usage analytics is always enabled.
In all other editions, product usage analytics is disabled by default. It can be activated in your site’s global settings by any administrator user. In distributed monitoring with a central setup, you can change this setting in the central site, and your remote sites will replicate this setting in their own configuration. Similarly, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can change the product usage analytics setting for managed sites.
Detailed instructions for configuring the product usage analytics setting for your site can be found in the official Checkmk User Guide.
Under the hood, the collection of product usage data is based on a series of livestatus queries. If you enable the transmission of usage data in your global settings, these queries will be performed once every 30 days, and the resulting quantitative data will be sent to Checkmk through an encrypted connection.
We store all product usage records on a Checkmk GmbH server in the AWS Europe (Frankfurt) region (eu-central-1). Each record of product usage data received will be retained for 5 years and then deleted.
You are in control
We implemented the product usage analytics feature because we believe it supports our fundamental goal of providing the best possible monitoring solution to you. The more we learn about which features (or combinations of features) are most frequently used, the more we can successfully focus on improving those parts of our product to deliver the best value.
As the administrator of your own sites, you get to make your choice: Keep product usage analytics disabled, or activate it and help us learn more about how you use Checkmk.
No matter which decision you make – you will always be welcome to share your product feedback with us at our conferences, on the forum, on other platforms, or by dropping us a message at feedback@checkmk.com.
