Domsignal evaluated website monitoring tools and sharing the details on what’s included in the free plan, what you can monitor, way to get alerted, how it compares with others and some open-source solutions.
Studies show that when a website’s page speed increases from 1 to 3 seconds, the likelihood of users leaving rises by 32%.
Think with Google
Frequent downtime tracking also leads to SEO penalties, lost sales, and declining user trust. For businesses, this means every second counts in retaining visitors and ensuring a seamless user experience.
The good news is that monitoring website performance doesn’t have to be expensive. Many free website monitoring solutions provide uptime tracking, real-time alerts, and load-time monitoring to help you stay ahead of potential issues.
To make things easier, I’ve compiled a detailed list of reliable and feature-rich free monitoring tools that can help you identify performance issues, detect downtime, and keep your website stable without any upfront investment.
1. UptimeRobot: Monitor Up to 50 Websites for Free
UptimeRobot is a website monitoring solution that helps track uptime, performance, and downtime without any cost. Its free plan lets you monitor up to 50 websites at 5-minute intervals, ensuring you’re immediately notified when an issue occurs.
With HTTP(s), port, ping, and keyword monitoring, it provides detailed insights into website availability. Real-time alerts via email, SMS, Slack, and Microsoft Teams ensure that you can respond quickly to downtime. The geolocation-based monitoring feature checks accessibility across different regions, making it useful for global businesses.
What’s Included in UptimeRobot Free Plan?
- HTTP(s), port, ping, and keyword monitoring
- One public status page to display uptime reports
- Real-time alerts via email and third-party integrations
- Monitor 50 websites with uptime tracking every 5 minutes
Limitations
- Limited to 5 third-party integrations
- Basic status pages with minimal customization options
- No SSL monitoring or domain expiration tracking in the free plan
For those looking for reliable uptime tracking and performance monitoring, UptimeRobot’s free plan is a solid choice. If you need security monitoring or advanced reporting, upgrading to a paid plan offers additional features.
2. Cronitor: Developer-friendly Website and API Monitoring Tools
Cronitor is a website monitoring solution built for developers and DevOps teams who need more than just uptime tracking. It helps track API performance, background jobs, and infrastructure health, ensuring systems run smoothly without unexpected failures.
This tool provides synthetic monitoring to help simulate real user interactions, identifying performance issues and slow response times before they affect actual users. Also, metrics tracking provides insights into uptime, response time, and API failures, making it easier to troubleshoot problems as they arise.
What’s Included in Cronitor Free Plan?
- Real-time alerts via email, Slack, and webhooks
- Monitor 5 websites and APIs with uptime tracking
- Metrics tracking for uptime, response time, and failures
- Infrastructure monitoring for server health and performance
Limitations
- No advanced security monitoring in the free plan
- Limited historical data storage for performance tracking
- Supports only 5 monitors, making it less scalable for large projects
For developers and IT teams who need API monitoring, uptime tracking, and real-time alerts, Cronitor’s free plan offers a good starting point. Performance monitoring features help track key issues, while API integration allows for automation.
3. Hyperping: Free Plan to Monitor 5 Websites
Hyperping provides website monitoring with a focus on geolocation-based monitoring and incident tracking. It allows users to monitor up to 5 websites and receive real-time alerts via email, Slack, and webhooks. The platform continuously checks website status from multiple locations, helping businesses identify regional outages and connectivity issues.
One of its standout features is load time monitoring, which gives insights into page speed, response time, and server availability. Developers and IT teams can use these performance monitoring tools to detect bottlenecks and optimize website speed.
What’s Included in Hyperping Free Plan?
- Real-time alerts via email, Slack, and webhooks
- API integration for automated reports and notifications
- Geolocation-based monitoring to detect regional outages
- Load time monitoring for page speed and performance insights
Hyperping offers a simple and effective website monitoring solution for teams needing uptime monitoring with performance tracking. Its geolocation-based monitoring and real-time alerts make it worthwhile for businesses looking to prevent downtime and improve page speed.
Those requiring full-stack monitoring or advanced analytics might find the premium plans more suitable.
4. OnlineOrNot: Free Plan Include Status Page
OnlineOrNot is a website monitoring software that focuses on uptime tracking and performance monitoring without unnecessary complexity. It runs automated checks to ensure websites remain accessible and sends real-time alerts when downtime is detected.
One feature I appreciate in the free plan is the ability to create a custom status page. This is especially useful for SaaS businesses, agencies, and service-based websites that want to be transparent about downtime. Instead of manually informing users about outages, they can check the status page themselves.
What’s Included in OnlineOrNot Free Plan?
- HTTP API & CLI for automated reports
- Custom status page for sharing uptime history
- Response time monitoring to detect performance issues
- Basic performance monitoring for response time analysis
Limitations
- Scalability limited to 5 monitors
- No advanced synthetic monitoring in the free plan
- Limited historical data storage for performance insights
I like how simple it is to set up and how it helps businesses build transparency and trust with their users. If you need more advanced monitoring or additional integrations, upgrading to a premium plan could be worth considering.
5. Pulsetic: Get Alerted on Slack, Telegram, Email, SMS, and Calls
Pulsetic is a website monitoring solution that ensures you’re promptly informed of any downtime through various notification channels. Its free plan allows monitoring of up to 10 websites, with check intervals every 5 minutes.
Notifications are sent via email, and you can create up to 3 status pages to keep your users informed about your website’s status
What’s Included in Pulsetic Free Plan?
- Email alerts for downtime notifications
- Up to 3 status pages to communicate site status
- Monitoring for up to 10 websites with 5-minute intervals
Product Limitations:
- No SMS or phone call alerts in the free plan
- Limited to 10 monitors; scalability requires a paid plan
- Advanced features like custom status page customization and subscriber notifications are available only in higher-tier plans
For those seeking a reliable website monitoring tool with essential features, Pulsetic’s free plan offers a solid starting point. If your needs include more advanced alerting options or greater scalability, exploring their premium plans would be beneficial.
6. Uptimia: Monitor Website from 171 Locations
I know how frustrating it can be when users in different parts of the world experience slow loading times while everything seems fine on your end. Uptimia’s website monitoring solution helps track uptime and performance from 171 global locations, making it easier to spot regional outages and performance issues before they affect your customers.
For businesses serving a global audience, geolocation-based monitoring is a must. With real-time alerts, uptime tracking, and performance monitoring tools, even small businesses can stay ahead of website issues.
What’s Included in Uptimia Free Plan?
- Real-time alerts via email
- Basic performance monitoring tools
- Load time monitoring for performance insights
- Geolocation-based monitoring from 171 locations
Limitations:
- No API integration in the free plan
- Limited historical data for performance reports
- Fewer notification channels compared to premium plans
If your website serves customers across multiple countries, Uptimia’s free plan is a great way to ensure uptime monitoring and performance tracking are handled from every region. Upgrading to a premium plan may be worth considering for businesses needing API integration or advanced analytics.
7. Uptrends: Get Email Alerts When Site is Down
Uptrends is a comprehensive website monitoring solution that ensures you’re promptly informed of any downtime through real-time email alerts. Its free plan allows monitoring of a single website, providing essential uptime tracking to help maintain your site’s availability.
A feature I find particularly valuable is synthetic monitoring, which simulates real user interactions to detect performance issues before they affect actual users. This proactive approach enables businesses to identify and resolve potential problems, such as slow page loads or API failures, ensuring a seamless user experience.
What’s Included in Uptrends Free Plan?
- Performance monitoring for load time analysis
- Monitoring for one website with uptime tracking
- Synthetic monitoring to simulate user interactions
- Geolocation-based monitoring from multiple checkpoints
Limitations:
- Limited alerting options beyond email
- No security monitoring in the free plan
- No integration options with third-party tools
If you’re looking for a website monitoring solution that covers the basics, Uptrends’ free plan is a great place to start. But If you need more integrations or advanced monitoring features, upgrading to a premium plan might be worth considering.
8. Site24x7: All-in-One Solution to Monitor Website, Infra and Logs
Site24x7 provides more than just uptime tracking. It is a full-stack monitoring solution that helps businesses track server health, infrastructure performance, and API stability. This makes it a strong option for IT teams managing multiple digital assets.
One thing I find useful about Site24x7 is its infrastructure monitoring feature, which does more than just check if a website is online. It provides insights into server load, response time trends, and performance bottlenecks, helping businesses detect issues before they cause downtime.
What’s Included in Site24x7 Free Plan?
- Infrastructure monitoring to track server health and performance
- Basic log analysis for identifying performance issues
- API integration to automate monitoring workflows
Limitations:
- Scaling beyond 5 monitors requires a paid plan
- Synthetic monitoring is not included in the free plan
- Limited historical data retention for performance reports
If you manage servers, APIs, and web applications, Site24x7’s free plan is a solid choice for getting uptime monitoring and infrastructure insights in one place. I like how it provides log analysis and performance tracking, making it easier to keep everything running smoothly.
9. New Relic: AI-powered Observability Platform for SMBs
New Relic is a observability platform tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. Its AI-driven monitoring provides real-time insights into website uptime, infrastructure stability, and application performance.
In the free plan, you can monitor your entire stack, including API performance, security vulnerabilities, and synthetic transactions. This level of visibility is invaluable for businesses seeking deep performance insights without investing in costly enterprise tools.
What’s Included in New Relic Free Plan?
- Security monitoring to detect and alert on potential vulnerabilities
- Synthetic monitoring to simulate user interactions and ensure reliability
- AI-powered insights to predict and identify potential issues before they escalate
- 100 GB of data ingest per month for monitoring various aspects of your applications
Limitations:
- Maximizing the platform’s potential may require technical expertise
- Customization options for dashboards are limited in the free version
- Advanced infrastructure monitoring features are reserved for paid plans
For SMBs aiming to enhance their observability with AI-driven insights, New Relic’s free plan offers a robust starting point. As your requirements grow, exploring their premium offerings can provide more advanced capabilities and customization options.
10. BetterStack: Best for Startups and Small Businesses
BetterStack is a website monitoring solution designed for startups and small businesses that need uptime tracking, real-time alerts, and log-based monitoring without a complex setup. The platform helps businesses detect server failures, response delays, and security vulnerabilities before they cause major disruptions. With a focus on log management, BetterStack allows businesses to analyze website health and infrastructure performance more effectively.
One of the features I find valuable in BetterStack’s free plan is its real-time log monitoring, which provides detailed insights into performance issues, errors, and security threats.
What’s Included in BetterStack Free Plan?
- Monitor up to 10 websites with 3-minute check intervals
- Real-time alerts via email to promptly notify you of any issues
- One status page to communicate your website’s status to users
- Log management with 3 GB of logs per month, retained for 3 days, aiding in performance analysis and troubleshooting
Limitations:
- No synthetic monitoring in the free plan
- Advanced analytics and longer log retention require an upgrade
- Limited to 10 monitors; expanding beyond this necessitates a paid plan
Better Stack’s free plan offers a solid foundation for startups and small businesses seeking a robust monitoring solution. Exploring their premium plans can provide additional features and scalability as your needs grow.
Open-Source monitoring tools for you
If you are willing to self-host, you can try the following open-source website monitoring tools as well.
Is there any open-source website monitoring tool?
Yes, Zabbix, Promethus and Nagios are popular open-source tools to monitor entire infrastructure and website. However, if you just need website monitoring, you can try Lighthouse and Sitespeed.
Which tool offers uptime and performance monitoring services?
Most tools listed in this article provide uptime tracking and performance monitoring. Still, options like Uptimia, Hyperping, and New Relic offer more advanced monitoring capabilities for real-time alerts, synthetic monitoring, and API integration.
