Stack
UptimeRobot
An uptime monitor that pings your URLs on a schedule and emails you when one stops responding.
What it actually does
UptimeRobot checks whether your URLs respond and alerts you when they go down. The free plan covers 50 monitors at 5-minute intervals with a basic status page and 3 months of data retention, though the free tier is limited to personal, non-commercial use.
It is deliberately simple: point it at a URL, pick alert channels, and it emails you on failure. Faster 60-second checks and additional alert channels require a paid plan; SMS and voice alerts consume purchased credits.
It is HTTP ping monitoring only. It tells you the page responds, not that login or checkout completes, so it cannot catch a broken flow the way scripted browser checks can.
UptimeRobot vs its main rivals
The tools people actually weigh against UptimeRobot: Better Stack, Pingdom, StatusCake, Uptime Kuma. Same criteria for every column, including where UptimeRobot loses.
| UptimeRobot |  Better Stack |  Pingdom | SStatusCake |  Uptime Kuma | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing & access | |||||
| Free tier | Yes50 monitors | Yes10 monitors | NoTrial only | Yes10 monitors | YesSelf-host free |
| Starting price | ~$9/mo | ~$29/mo | $15/mo | ~$25/mo | Free (OSS) |
Scaling & limits | |||||
| Free monitors | 50 | 10 | 0 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Fastest free interval | 5 min | 3 min | N/A | 5 min | 20 sec |
| Fastest paid interval | 30 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 30 sec | Any |
Coverage | |||||
| Status page | Yes1 free | YesFree | YesPaid | Yes1 free | YesYes |
| Scripted browser checks | NoNo | YesPlaywright (paid) | YesYes | NoNo | NoNo |
| On-call / incident mgmt | NoNo | YesYes | NoNo | NoNo | NoNo |
Developer & API | |||||
| REST API | Free | Free | Paid | Free | Free |
Team & enterprise | |||||
| Self-host option | NoNo | NoNo | NoNo | NoNo | YesYes |
| SSO / SAML | YesPaid | YesPaid | YesYes | YesPaid | NoNo |
- 50 free monitors is more than Better Stack (10) or Checkly, enough for many small personal projects
- Dead simple: pings a URL, emails you when it is down, little to configure
- The Solo plan at ~$9/mo is among the cheapest paid uptime plans in this category
- The free check interval is 5 minutes, so you can be down 4+ minutes before it notices; Better Stack's free tier checks every 3
- HTTP ping only tells you the page responds, not that login or checkout works; no browser checks at all
- The free plan is restricted to personal, non-commercial use (since Oct 2024), so a revenue-generating product technically needs a paid plan
- Self-hosted Uptime Kuma offers faster intervals and unlimited monitors for free if you can run it
Pay less for it
5 ways found50 monitors at 5-minute intervals, a status page, and 3 months retention at $0 (personal, non-commercial use)
Solo is $10/mo monthly versus $9/mo billed annually
Paid plans carry a 14-day refund window to trial without commitment
Open-source uptime monitoring with unlimited monitors and fast intervals for infrastructure cost only
Uptime Kuma — Free open-source uptime monitor you self-host, with faster intervals and unlimited monitors, if you are comfortable running a small container
StackTracker tracks what you actually pay for UptimeRobot and every other tool, flags overpayment, and shows the dollars you would save by switching.
Is it the right tool for you
- You want set-and-forget uptime alerts across many small personal projects for free
- You want the simplest possible ping-and-email monitoring
- You want the cheapest paid tier when you eventually need 60-second checks
- You need to verify a multi-step flow, not just that the page responds → use Checkly
- You want faster free checks plus a status page and incident management → use Better Stack
Track what UptimeRobot and the rest of your stack cost
StackTracker adds up every subscription, plus your hours, so you see the real number.
Prices and limits last verified 2026-07-20.