Between the stable Zabbix 7.0 release (2024) and the upcoming 8.0 version planned for 2026, a clear dividing line is emerging. Zabbix 7.0 continued the evolutionary path, strengthening the system’s position as a leader in monitoring. In turn, Zabbix 8.0 LTS is expected to be a generational leap transforming Zabbix into an even more modern, open observability platform tailored to the needs of contemporary, cloud-based environments.

The following comparison highlights key areas of development, showing how version 8.0 breaks away from the traditional approach in favor of deeper telemetry integration and improved usability.

Comparison of key development areas

Analysis of key changes

From metric monitoring to observability (OpenTelemetry)

• Zabbix 7.0: Focused on traditional infrastructure monitoring (CPU, RAM, Disk) and application metrics (JMX, Prometheus, SNMP), achieving great stability and scalability.
• Zabbix 8.0: Embraces a new paradigm. Instead of limiting itself to metrics, it becomes a single control point for all three pillars of observability, Metrics, Logs, and Traces. Full native OpenTelemetry integration allows Zabbix to monitor modern, dynamic environments (microservices, containers, serverless) in a way that previously required separate tools such as Jaeger (Traces) or Elastic Stack (Logs).

Intelligent event and alert management

• Zabbix 7.0: A strong alerting tool, but requires significant effort to avoid alert fatigue in large, complex environments.
• Zabbix 8.0: Introduces Complex Event Processing, revolutionizing how the system reacts to events. Instead of generating multiple alerts for the same issue, it can correlate, deduplicate, and automatically close them based on advanced, JS-driven rules. This elevates Zabbix to the level of commercial AIOps platforms.

Mobility and usability (UI/UX)

• Zabbix 7.0: Functional interface but often criticized for being cumbersome and lacking an official mobile app — a serious drawback in the “mobile NOC” era.
• Zabbix 8.0: Addresses both issues:

1. Mobile App: Administrators can now manage and respond to incidents directly from their phones — an enterprise standard.
2. Modernized UI: Enhancements such as inline validation and easy dashboard import/export reduce configuration time and simplify daily operations.

Increased flexibility for DevOps

• Zabbix 7.0: Offers solid API integration and diverse data collection methods, but lacks native handling for structured data like JSON.
• Zabbix 8.0: Introduces native JSON data types and a Management Function mechanism for object-level actions. The new Shared Data feature eliminates redundant data collection, which is vital in dynamic, containerized environments (e.g., fetching an API session token once for hundreds of items).

Summary

Zabbix 8.0 LTS marks a turning point in the project’s history. After years of refining classic monitoring, version 7.0 reached maturity and stability in infrastructure metrics. Now, Zabbix is stepping into the era of full observability, expanding its capabilities to include logs and traces — fully aligned with the OpenTelemetry standard.

This transition represents a move from reactive monitoring to proactive understanding of systems — from detecting problems to identifying their sources and root causes. With Complex Event Processing, a redesigned interface, and an official mobile app, Zabbix 8.0 evolves from an infrastructure monitoring tool into a central platform for managing IT performance and reliability.

However, this is not a revolution that discards the past, but rather a consistent evolution toward a unified vision of a system that not only monitors but also comprehends. In that sense, Zabbix 8.0 is not a new product, but a mature continuation of the project’s long-standing ideals — independence, openness, and full control over your infrastructure.

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