# Kernus

> Docker container monitoring made simple. Real-time metrics, smart alerts, 2-minute setup. 10x cheaper than Datadog. Free for up to 3 hosts.

Kernus is a lightweight Docker container monitoring platform for teams of 1–50 developers. It replaces complex observability stacks (Prometheus + Grafana + Alertmanager) with a single agent and a clean dashboard. Push-based architecture with edge aggregation reduces data volume 6x versus pull-based alternatives.

## Core value proposition

- **Setup in 2 minutes**: Install one agent, get metrics immediately. No YAML, no config files, no Prometheus scrape jobs.
- **10x cheaper than Datadog**: 20 hosts on Datadog costs ~$300/month. On Kernus Pro it's $29/month.
- **No log management**: Focuses exclusively on container health metrics (CPU, memory, restarts, network, disk, status). This keeps costs predictable and setup trivial.
- **Open source agent**: Every line that runs on your servers is auditable on GitHub.

## Pricing

- **Free** — $0/month: 1 host, 3 containers, 10 alerts/day, email alerts, 1 member
- **Pro** — $29/month: 5 hosts, 30 containers, 30-day retention, 100 alerts/day, all channels (Slack, Discord, Telegram, webhook), 5 members
- **Business** — $99/month: 30 hosts, 150 containers, 30-day retention, 400 alerts/day, all channels, 10 members, priority support
- **Enterprise** — Custom: Unlimited hosts, containers, and alerts/day, 90+ day retention, unlimited members, dedicated support, SLA 99.9%

## Features

- Real-time CPU, memory, network and disk metrics per container
- Alert rules with configurable thresholds and duration windows
- Notification channels: email, Slack, Discord, Telegram, webhook
- Multi-tenant organizations with owner/admin/member roles
- Agent tokens for secure push-based metric collection
- ClickHouse backend with automatic TTL-based data deletion
- No logs stored — metrics only, privacy by design

## Comparison with alternatives

| | Kernus Pro | Datadog | Grafana Cloud | Prometheus DIY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (20 hosts) | $29/mo | ~$300/mo | ~$160/mo | ~$100/mo + time |
| Setup time | 2 min | Hours | Hours | Days |
| Log management | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kubernetes | Roadmap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source agent | Yes | No | No | Yes |

## Who it's for

Teams of 1–30 developers running Docker or Docker Compose in production who need to know if their containers are healthy — without building and maintaining a full observability stack. Not for teams needing APM, distributed tracing, or Kubernetes-native monitoring.

## Links

- Homepage: https://kernus.app
- Documentation: https://kernus.app/docs
- Sign up (free): https://kernus.app/signup
- Privacy policy: https://kernus.app/privacy
- Security: https://kernus.app/security
- Agent source code: https://github.com/kqnd/kernus