In this article, we study the linear and nonlinear thermal instability in a horizontal porous medium saturated by a nanofluid. For this, the momentum equation with Brinkman model has been used. Also, it incorporates the effect of Brownian motion along with thermophoresis. The linear stability is based on normal mode technique, and for nonlinear analysis, the truncated Fourier series involving only two terms has been used. The expression of Rayleigh number for linear theory has been derived, and the effects of various parameters on Rayleigh number have been presented graphically. Weak nonlinear theory is used to find the concentration and the thermal Nusselt numbers. The behavior of the concentration and thermal Nusselt numbers is investigated and depicted graphically, by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method.