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URL: https://www.netdata.cloud/features/enterprise/zero-code-instrumentation/

⇱ Infrastructure Observability Without Instrumentation | Netdata


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The only agent that thinks for itself

Autonomous Monitoring with self-learning AI built-in, operating independently across your entire stack.

Unlimited Metrics & Logs
Machine learning & MCP
5% CPU, 150MB RAM
3GB disk, >1 year retention
800+ integrations, zero config
Dashboards, alerts out of the box
> Discover Netdata Agents

Centralized metrics streaming and storage

Aggregate metrics from multiple agents into centralized Parent nodes for unified monitoring across your infrastructure.

Stream from unlimited agents
Long-term data retention
High availability clustering
Data replication & backup
Scalable architecture
Enterprise-grade security
> Learn about Parents

Fully managed cloud platform

Access your monitoring data from anywhere with our SaaS platform. No infrastructure to manage, automatic updates, and global availability.

Zero infrastructure management
99.9% uptime SLA
Global data centers
Automatic updates & patches
Enterprise SSO & RBAC
SOC2 & ISO certified
> Explore Netdata Cloud

Deploy Netdata Cloud in your infrastructure

Run the full Netdata Cloud platform on-premises for complete data sovereignty and compliance with your security policies.

Complete data sovereignty
Air-gapped deployment
Custom compliance controls
Private network integration
Dedicated support team
Kubernetes & Docker support
> Learn about Cloud On-Premises

Powerful, intuitive monitoring interface

Modern, responsive UI built for real-time troubleshooting with customizable dashboards and advanced visualization capabilities.

Real-time chart updates
Customizable dashboards
Dark & light themes
Advanced filtering & search
Responsive on all devices
Collaboration features
> Explore Netdata UI

Monitor on the go

Native iOS and Android apps bring full monitoring capabilities to your mobile device with real-time alerts and notifications.

iOS & Android apps
Push notifications
Touch-optimized interface
Offline data access
Biometric authentication
Widget support
> Download apps

The future of infrastructure observability

See our strategic direction across AI-native observability, full-stack signals, operational intelligence, and enterprise platform maturity.

AI-native observability
Full-stack signal coverage
Operational intelligence
Enterprise platform maturity
Agent releases every 6 weeks
Cloud continuous delivery
> Explore Product Roadmap

Best energy efficiency

True real-time per-second

100% automated zero config

Centralized observability

Multi-year retention

High availability built-in

Zero maintenance

Always up-to-date

Enterprise security

Complete data control

Air-gap ready

Compliance certified

Millisecond responsiveness

Infinite zoom & pan

Works on any device

Native performance

Instant alerts

Monitor anywhere

AI-native observability

Continuous delivery

Open source foundation

80% Faster Incident Resolution

AI-powered troubleshooting from detection, to root cause and blast radius identification, to reporting.

True Real-Time and Simple, even at Scale

Linearly and infinitely scalable full-stack observability, that can be deployed even mid-crisis.

90% Cost Reduction, Full Fidelity

Instead of centralizing the data, Netdata distributes the code, eliminating pipelines and complexity.

See and Map Your Entire Network

Live topology, flow analytics, and SNMP device and trap monitoring β€” unified with your full-stack observability.

Control Without Surrender

SOC 2 Type 2 certified with every metric kept on your infrastructure.

Integrations

800+ collectors and notification channels, auto-discovered and ready out of the box.

800+ data collectors
Auto-discovery & zero config
Cloud, infra, app protocols
Notifications out of the box
> Explore integrations
Real Results
46% Cost Reduction

Reduced monitoring costs by 46% while cutting staff overhead by 67%.

β€” Leonardo Antunez, Codyas

Zero Pipeline

No data shipping. No central storage costs. Query at the edge.

From Our Users
"Out-of-the-Box"

So many out-of-the-box features! I mostly don't have to develop anything.

β€” Simon Beginn, LANCOM Systems

No Query Language

Point-and-click troubleshooting. No PromQL, no LogQL, no learning curve.

Enterprise Ready
67% Less Staff, 46% Cost Cut

Enterprise efficiency without enterprise complexityβ€”real ROI from day one.

β€” Leonardo Antunez, Codyas

SOC 2 Type 2 Certified

Zero data egress. Only metadata reaches the cloud. Your metrics stay on your infrastructure.

Full Coverage
800+ Collectors

Auto-discovered and configured. No manual setup required.

Any Notification Channel

Slack, PagerDuty, Teams, email, webhooksβ€”all built-in.

Built for the People Who Get Paged

Because 3am alerts deserve instant answers, not hour-long hunts.

Every Industry Has Rules. We Master Them.

See how healthcare, finance, and government teams cut monitoring costs 90% while staying audit-ready.

Monitor Any Technology. Configure Nothing.

Install the agent. It already knows your stack.

Don't Take Our Word for It

From 99% less downtime to 30-second troubleshootingβ€”see how they did it.

Government

Falkland Islands Government

99% less downtime, 30% cloud cost reduction

Transportation

TMB Barcelona

"A rare unicorn that obeys the Pareto rule"

Gaming

Nodecraft

Troubleshooting in 30 seconds, not 3 minutes

Technology

Codyas

46% cost reduction, 67% less monitoring staff

From Our Users
"A Rare Unicorn"

Netdata gives more than you invest in it. A rare unicorn that obeys the Pareto rule.

β€” Eduard Porquet Mateu, TMB Barcelona

99% Downtime Reduction

Reduced website downtime by 99% and cloud bill by 30% using Netdata alerts.

β€” Falkland Islands Government

Real Savings
30% Cloud Cost Reduction

Optimized resource allocation based on Netdata alerts cut cloud spending by 30%.

β€” Falkland Islands Government

46% Cost Cut

Reduced monitoring staff by 67% while cutting operational costs by 46%.

β€” Codyas

Real Coverage
"Plugin for Everything"

Netdata has agent capacity or a plugin for everything, including Windows and Kubernetes.

β€” Eduard Porquet Mateu, TMB Barcelona

"Out-of-the-Box"

So many out-of-the-box features! I mostly don't have to develop anything.

β€” Simon Beginn, LANCOM Systems

Real Speed
Troubleshooting in 30 Seconds

From 2-3 minutes to 30 secondsβ€”instant visibility into any node issue.

β€” Matthew Artist, Nodecraft

20% Downtime Reduction

20% less downtime and 40% budget optimization from out-of-the-box monitoring.

β€” Simon Beginn, LANCOM Systems

Pay per Node. Unlimited Everything Else.

One price per node. Unlimited metrics, logs, users, and retention. No per-GB surprises.

Free tierβ€”forever
No metric limits or caps
Retention you control
Cancel anytime
> See pricing plans

What's Your Monitoring Really Costing You?

Most teams overpay by 40-60%. Let's find out why.

Expose hidden metric charges
Calculate tool consolidation
Customers report 30-67% savings
Results in under 60 seconds
> See what you're really paying

Your Infrastructure Is Unique. Let's Talk.

Because monitoring 10 nodes is different from monitoring 10,000.

On-prem & air-gapped deployment
Volume pricing & agreements
Architecture review for your scale
Compliance & security support
> Start a conversation

Monitoring That Sells Itself

Deploy in minutes. Impress clients in hours. Earn recurring revenue for years.

30-second live demos close deals
Zero config = zero support burden
Competitive margins & deal protection
Response in 48 hours
> Apply to partner

Per-Second Metrics at Homelab Prices

Same engine, same dashboards, same ML. Just priced for tinkerers.

Community: Free forever Β· 5 nodes Β· non-commercial
Homelab: $90/yr Β· unlimited nodes Β· fair usage
> Get the Homelab Plan

$1,000 Per Referral. Unlimited Referrals.

Your colleagues get 10% off. You get 10% commission. Everyone wins.

10% of subscriptions, up to $1,000 each
Track earnings inside Netdata Cloud
PayPal/Venmo payouts in 3-4 weeks
No caps, no complexity
> Get your referral link
Cost Proof
40% Budget Optimization

"Netdata's significant positive impact" β€” LANCOM Systems

Calculate Your Savings

Compare vs Datadog, Grafana, Dynatrace

Savings Proof
46% Cost Reduction

"Cut costs by 46%, staff by 67%" β€” Codyas

30% Cloud Bill Savings

"Reduced cloud bill by 30%" β€” Falkland Islands Gov

Enterprise Proof
"Better Than Combined Alternatives"

"Better observability with Netdata than combining other tools." β€” TMB Barcelona

Real Engineers, <24h Response

DPA, SLAs, on-prem, volume pricing

Why Partners Win
Demo Live Infrastructure

One command, 30 seconds, real dataβ€”no sandbox needed

Zero Tickets, High Margins

Auto-config + per-node pricing = predictable profit

Homelab Ready
Free Video Course

8-episode Netdata tutorial by LearnLinux.tv

76k+ GitHub Stars

3rd most starred monitoring project

Worth Recommending
Product That Delivers

Customers report 40-67% cost cuts, 99% downtime reduction

Zero Risk to Your Rep

Free tier lets them try before they buy

AI Support Assistant, Available 24/7

Nedi has access to all official documentation, source code, and resources. Ask any question about Netdataβ€”responds in your language.

Deployment & configuration
Troubleshooting & sizing
Alerts & notifications
Evidence-based answers
> Ask Nedi now

Engineering Insights & Product Updates

Deep dives into monitoring, infrastructure, and what's new in Netdata.

Jun 2026

Network Monitoring, the Netdata Way: …

Interface counters tell you a port is busy. …

Jun 2026

5 Best SolarWinds Alternatives for 2026

As organizations modernize their …

Jun 2026

SolarWinds Price Increases 2026: What …

If you’re a SolarWinds customer facing …

May 2026

High-cardinality metrics at scale: why …

The β€œhigh cardinality is …

Never Fight Fires Alone

Docs, community, and expert helpβ€”pick your path to resolution.

Learn.netdata.cloud docs
Discord, Forums, GitHub
Premium support available
> Get answers now

60 Seconds to First Dashboard

One command to install. Zero config. 850+ integrations documented.

Linux, Windows, K8s, Docker
Auto-discovers your stack
> Read our documentation

Level Up Your Monitoring

Real problems. Real solutions. 112+ guides from basic monitoring to AI observability.

76,000+ Engineers Strong

615+ contributors. 1.5M daily downloads. One mission: simplify observability.

Per-Second. 90% Cheaper. Data Stays Home.

Side-by-side comparisons: costs, real-time granularity, and data sovereignty for every major tool.

See why teams switch from Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, and more.

> Browse all comparisons
Nedi Can Help With
Paste Logs & Errors

Trace issues directly in the source code

Deploy & Size Parents

Get architecture recommendations

Edge-Native Observability, Born Open Source
Per-second visibility, ML on every metric, and data that never leaves your infrastructure.
Founded in 2016
615+ contributors worldwide
Remote-first, engineering-driven
Open source first
> Read our story
Promises We Publishβ€”and Prove
12 principles backed by open code, independent validation, and measurable outcomes.
Open source, peer-reviewed
Zero config, instant value
Data sovereignty by design
Aligned pricing, no surprises
> See all 12 principles
Edge-Native, AI-Ready, 100% Open
76k+ stars. Full ML, AI, and automationβ€”GPLv3+, not premium add-ons.
76,000+ GitHub stars
GPLv3+ licensed forever
ML on every metric, included
Zero vendor lock-in
> Explore our open source
Build Real-Time Observability for the World
Remote-first team shipping per-second monitoring with ML on every metric.
Remote-first, fully distributed
Open source (76k+ stars)
Challenging technical problems
Your code on millions of systems
> See open roles
Meet the Team Behind Netdata
Conferences, meetups, and tradeshows where you can see Netdata in action and talk to the engineers who build it.
Live demos and deep dives
Book 1-on-1 meetings
Talks and panel sessions
Event recaps and photos
> See all events
Talk to a Netdata Human in <24 Hours
Sales, partnerships, press, or professional servicesβ€”real engineers, fast answers.
Discuss your observability needs
Pricing and volume discounts
Partnership opportunities
Media and press inquiries
> Book a conversation
Your Data. Your Rules.
On-prem data, cloud control plane, transparent terms.
Trust & Scale
76,000+ GitHub Stars

One of the most popular open-source monitoring projects

SOC 2 Type 2 Certified

Enterprise-grade security and compliance

Data Sovereignty

Your metrics stay on your infrastructure

Validated
University of Amsterdam

"Most energy-efficient monitoring solution" β€” ICSOC 2023, peer-reviewed

ADASTEC (Autonomous Driving)

"Doesn't miss alertsβ€”mission-critical trust for safety software"

Community Stats
615+ Contributors

Global community improving monitoring for everyone

1.5M+ Downloads/Day

Trusted by teams worldwide

GPLv3+ Licensed

Free forever, fully open source agent

Why Join?
Remote-First

Work from anywhere, async-friendly culture

Impact at Scale

Your work helps millions of systems

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Zero-Code Instrumentation

See Everything Without Changing Anything

Monitor every process, container, and system call from installation. No code changes. No application restarts. No SDK installation. Complete infrastructure observability in 60 seconds.

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Infrastructure Observability Without Instrumentation

Complete visibility from kernel to application

Instant Deployment

60 seconds from installation to complete infrastructure visibility. Zero configuration required.

Universal Process Monitoring

Every process monitored automatically - system daemons, applications, containers, shell scripts - regardless of language.

Kernel-Level Insights

eBPF instrumentation reveals syscalls, network operations, and filesystem activity without touching application code.

Container Intelligence

Automatic discovery and monitoring of Docker, Kubernetes, LXC containers with resource accounting and lifecycle tracking.

Zero-Pipeline Logs

Direct systemd-journal and Windows Event Log access eliminates shipping infrastructure while maintaining full indexing.

Continuous Discovery

Infrastructure changes detected automatically - new services, containers, and processes monitored without configuration updates.

Trusted by operations teams managing complex infrastructure

Monitor Everything That Matters

Track Every Process Without Instrumentation

apps.plugin monitors all processes automatically - capturing CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network usage for system services, user applications, containers, and short-lived scripts. Works with any programming language without code changes or application awareness.

3,000-20,000 metrics/sec per node

Learn about process monitoring

Reveal Kernel Operations With eBPF

eBPF instrumentation provides kernel-level visibility into syscalls, network bandwidth per application, filesystem operations, and memory management - insights impossible from application-level monitoring. Runs on host with minimal overhead, capturing behavior of all processes including those that cannot be instrumented. Does not run in containers or Kubernetes.

<1% CPU overhead typical

Explore eBPF capabilities

Discover Services Automatically

Network listener scanning, Kubernetes Pod watching, Docker container detection, and SNMP device discovery work continuously. 800+ integrations auto-configure when services are detected - databases, web servers, message brokers, cloud services - without manual setup.

800+ integrations

View all integrations

Monitor Containers From Kernel

cgroups.plugin tracks resource usage for Docker, Kubernetes, LXC, and Podman containers through kernel accounting - independent of container runtime. Captures CPU throttling, memory limits, network bandwidth, and disk I/O with lifecycle tracking for ephemeral workloads.

Per-second container metrics

Container monitoring details

Access Logs Without Pipelines

Direct systemd-journal and Windows Event Log access eliminates log shipping infrastructure. Every field automatically indexed by the OS - full-text search, field statistics, and histograms without parsing configuration. 90% cost reduction versus traditional log platforms.

200Γ— query accuracy

Zero-pipeline logs explained

Replace Console Tools With History

Netdata Functions provide browser-based access to every diagnostic tool - top, iostat, netstat, journalctl - with the same per-second precision as console commands plus historical context, anomaly detection, and correlation. Debug production without SSH access.

Dozens of console tools unified

Explore Netdata Functions

Zero-Code Reality Check

True Zero-Code vs Application-Focused Instrumentation

Netdata provides genuinely zero-code infrastructure observability - no application restarts, no SDK installation, no language limitations. Application-focused tools require instrumentation despite zero-code claims.

Capability

Netdata

Application APM Tools

Application code changes

βœ… Zero
Literally no code modifications required

βœ… Zero
But requires agent installation and restart

Application restarts required

βœ… Not Required
Monitor running processes without interruption

⚠️ Required
Agent installation requires application restart

Language/runtime limitations

βœ… Universal
Works with any language or runtime

⚠️ Limited
Specific language agents required

Monitors uninstrumentable processes

βœ… Advanced
System services, shell scripts, legacy apps

❌ Not Available
Only instrumented applications visible

Kernel-level visibility

βœ… Advanced
eBPF syscalls, network, filesystem operations

❌ Not Available
Application-level metrics only

Short-lived process tracking

βœ… Advanced
Shell scripts, cron jobs, subprocesses

⚠️ Limited
May miss ephemeral processes

Container monitoring independence

βœ… Kernel-Based
cgroups accounting independent of runtime

⚠️ Runtime-Dependent
Requires container runtime integration

Log management approach

βœ… Zero-Pipeline
Direct journal access, no shipping

⚠️ Pipeline-Based
Requires log shipping infrastructure

Time to first visibility

βœ… 60 Seconds
Installation to complete infrastructure view

⚠️ Hours to Days
Configuration and integration required

Configuration required

βœ… Zero
Auto-discovery and algorithmic dashboards

⚠️ Moderate
Service configuration and dashboard building

See Complete Feature Comparison

How Zero-Code Instrumentation Works

Kernel-Level Visibility Without Kernel Modules

eBPF instrumentation attaches to internal kernel functions, capturing syscalls, network operations, filesystem I/O, and memory management for all processes. Runs on host only - does not run in containers or Kubernetes. Requires kernel 4.11+.

<1% CPU overhead typical

Learn about eBPF monitoring

Universal Process Visibility

apps.plugin monitors every process automatically - system services, user applications, containers, interpreters, and shell scripts. Captures CPU, memory, disk I/O, network usage, and process tree relationships without process awareness or code changes.

Works with any language

Process monitoring details

Kernel-Based Container Accounting

cgroups.plugin monitors containers through kernel resource accounting - independent of container runtime. Tracks CPU throttling, memory limits, network bandwidth, disk I/O, and lifecycle events for Docker, Kubernetes, LXC, and Podman.

Per-second container metrics

Container monitoring guide

Continuous Service Detection

Network listener scanning, Kubernetes Pod watching, Docker container detection, and SNMP device discovery work continuously. 800+ integrations auto-configure when services detected - databases, web servers, message brokers, cloud services.

800+ integrations

View all integrations

Direct Log Access Without Shipping

systemd-journal and Windows Event Log integration eliminates log shipping infrastructure. Every field automatically indexed by the OS - full-text search, field statistics, and histograms without parsing configuration or pipeline management.

90% cost reduction

Zero-pipeline logs explained

Key Benefits

Zero-code instrumentation delivers comprehensive infrastructure visibility instantly

June 24, 2026

Network Monitoring, the Netdata Way: Topology, NetFlow, SNMP, and Traps

Netdata has added NPM-class network monitoring: live topology maps, NetFlow and sFlow traffic analysis, SNMP device and trap monitoring, and a dedicated network dashboard, all unified with your full-stack observability and processed at the edge.

June 23, 2026

5 Best SolarWinds Alternatives for 2026

Discover the top SolarWinds alternatives for 2026. Compare modern monitoring platforms built for cloud-native infrastructure - now with NPM-class network monitoring - with transparent pricing and real-time insights.

June 23, 2026

SolarWinds Price Increases 2026: What Customers Need to Know

Understanding SolarWinds' subscription-only pricing changes following the Turn/River Capital acquisition, and exploring your options for infrastructure monitoring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Netdata provides complete infrastructure observability without any application code changes, SDK installation, or application restarts. We monitor processes, containers, networks, and logs through kernel-level instrumentation (eBPF), process tree analysis (apps.plugin), and direct log access (systemd-journal). This is genuinely zero-code - no modifications to your applications required.

Application APM tools require installing agents and restarting applications despite zero-code claims. They focus on application traces and require language-specific instrumentation. Netdata monitors infrastructure - OS, kernel, processes, containers, networks - without touching applications. We provide the foundation layer that APM tools assume exists. Use both for complete observability.

Yes. Netdata monitors any process regardless of whether you can modify it - system services, third-party applications, legacy software, shell scripts, interpreted languages. apps.plugin tracks resource usage for all processes, eBPF captures kernel-level behavior, and auto-discovery detects services automatically.

Minimal. Netdata uses <5% CPU and 150-200 MB RAM for standalone deployments. eBPF overhead is typically under 1% CPU. The University of Amsterdam study confirmed Netdata is the most energy-efficient monitoring solution despite collecting per-second data and running ML at the edge.

Netdata focuses on infrastructure observability - the foundation layer. For distributed tracing and code-level profiling, use application APM tools. Together you get complete visibility - Netdata for infrastructure, APM for application traces. OTLP trace ingestion planned for Q2 2026.

eBPF attaches to internal kernel functions without kernel modules, capturing syscalls, network operations, filesystem I/O, and memory management for all processes. Provides per-application attribution with minimal overhead. Requires Linux kernel 4.11+ and runs on host only - does not run inside containers or Kubernetes. Gracefully degrades if unavailable.

Yes for infrastructure-level monitoring. apps.plugin monitors any process automatically. For application-specific metrics (databases, web servers, message brokers), auto-discovery detects standard ports and services. Custom applications may require minimal configuration for service-specific metrics but process-level monitoring works immediately.

Netdata reads systemd-journal and Windows Event Log files directly from disk - no log shipping, no parsing, no indexing infrastructure. The OS automatically indexes every field in every log entry. We provide query interface, field statistics, and histograms. Eliminates 90% of traditional log platform costs.

Yes. cgroups.plugin monitors containers through kernel resource accounting - independent of what runs inside. Tracks CPU, memory, network, disk I/O, and lifecycle events for Docker, Kubernetes, LXC, Podman. eBPF provides additional kernel-level insights on the host. Application-specific metrics require service detection.

Minimal. Netdata auto-discovers infrastructure and generates dashboards automatically. Configuration needed only for services requiring authentication (databases, APIs), custom application metrics, retention settings, or advanced alert customization. Most deployments run with default configuration.

Netdata complements APM tools by providing infrastructure foundation they miss. Keep your APM for distributed tracing and code profiling. Add Netdata for kernel-level visibility, process monitoring, container tracking, and zero-pipeline logs. Many customers run both for complete observability.

Yes. Netdata monitors Windows processes, services, performance counters, and Event Logs without code changes. Windows Event Log integration provides zero-pipeline log management. eBPF is Linux-only but Windows monitoring works through native APIs and performance counters.

apps.plugin captures short-lived processes that exit before polling intervals - critical for shell scripts, cron jobs, CI/CD pipelines. Aggregates resource usage from exited processes. No data loss for ephemeral workloads or subprocess storms.

60 seconds from installation to complete infrastructure visibility. Auto-discovery detects services, algorithmic dashboards generate automatically, and ML begins training. First anomaly detection available after 15 minutes baseline. No configuration, dashboard building, or alert tuning required.

Netdata provides infrastructure observability without code changes. For custom business logic metrics (purchase completions, user engagement, financial transactions), manual instrumentation is required. Distributed tracing not yet available (planned Q2 2026). Code-level profiling requires APM tools.