What does uptime monitoring really cost?
Ten uptime monitors priced for 10, 50 and 200 sites, APIs or cron jobs checked every minute or faster, month to month. Each line also says what you get for status pages and SMS alerts, which differ more than the price. Pick a number.
Last checked: 9 Nov 2026 · every price read off the vendor's own page, monthly billing, before VAT · no affiliate links
Jump to: the short answer · how the numbers are worked out · what each pays a referrer
The short answer
Cheapest at each size, month to month, before VAT. For 10 monitors checked every minute: Site24x7's Web Uptime at £8 (polled from one location), then UptimeRobot at €13 (about £10.85) and Pingdom at £14. For 50: StatusCake Superior at £14.99 (its plan already allows 100), then Checkly at $29 (about £21.62) and Site24x7 at £22. For 200: StatusCake Business at £49.99 (300 monitors, 30-second checks), then Site24x7 at £64 and Checkly at $89 (about £66.34). The dearest at 200 are Pingdom at £222, Cronitor at $405 (about £301.88) and Oh Dear at €399 (about £332.89). Uptime Kuma costs nothing at any size, but it is self-hosted: you run and pay for the server it runs on.
Two services charge for the first user too. Better Stack's paid plans start with a $34-a-month 'responder' licence for each person who gets alerts, so a second person on call adds another $34; Cronitor adds $5 a month a user to its $2 a monitor. Hyperping includes 3 seats, then €7 each, and Pingdom and Oh Dear include unlimited users. Better Stack also counts cron (heartbeat) monitors separately: 10 included, then $20 a month for each 10 more.
Status pages and SMS differ most after price. A public status page is included at UptimeRobot (3 on your own domain), Pingdom, Site24x7 (3), Hyperping, Better Stack, Cronitor and Oh Dear; StatusCake sells them separately from £11.95 a month, and Checkly as a separate plan ($12 a month with a custom domain). Branding costs extra at Cronitor ($25 a page) and Better Stack (white-label $250 a page). SMS is metered almost everywhere: only Better Stack includes unlimited SMS and phone calls, and Oh Dear sends none itself, so you bring your own Vonage account.
No free plan checks every minute, and most are for personal use only. The free plans check every 2 to 15 minutes. Better Stack's is 'Free for personal projects', Checkly's 'Perfect for personal projects and learning', Hyperping's 'For personal projects and trying out Hyperping', Cronitor's 'for homelabs and small projects', and StatusCake's terms say its free account 'is for your own personal use'. UptimeRobot's free plan alone allows commercial use: 50 monitors every 5 minutes, 'Good for personal and commercial projects'.
How they count decides the order. StatusCake, Hyperping and Checkly sell plans in big steps, so 50 monitors cost the same as 10. Cronitor's $2 a monitor is mid-table at 10 and second-dearest at 200. Oh Dear prices by site, and each site bundles SSL, broken-link, DNS and performance checks with 5 cron monitors, which makes it the dearest per monitor.
Faster than a minute costs more on some. UptimeRobot checks every 30 seconds on Team (€39) and every 15 on Scale; StatusCake every 30 seconds on Business; Checkly on Team ($80). Better Stack, Hyperping and Cronitor check every 30 seconds on their entry paid plans.
Check the small print before relying on SMS or history. Site24x7's pricing comparison says Web Uptime allows 'Only email alerts', while its free-plan page lists 'Email, SMS' for the same plan. StatusCake's pricing page gives Business 400 SMS credits a month and its help centre 500. Checkly's Starter keeps 7 days of raw results (30 days aggregated), against 12 months on UptimeRobot Solo and 2 years on Site24x7.
Prices depend on where you are. UptimeRobot says its prices are 'geo-banded' and served euros to this research; Oh Dear served euros three times and dollars once to the same server; Pingdom showed pounds; Site24x7 has a currency menu (£8 or $10). A UK visitor may see different figures.
Freshping is gone. Freshworks disabled its free accounts on 6 March 2026 and stopped renewing paid plans, so it isn't on this page.
When the cheapest is not the answer
- You need checks from more than one place. Site24x7's £8 Web Uptime polls each site from one location at the 1-minute frequency. Oh Dear checks every failure again from a second location before it alerts you, on every plan.
- Several people share on-call. Better Stack's $34 is for each person who gets alerts, so three people on call pay $102 before any extra monitors. Pingdom and Oh Dear include unlimited users.
- You watch cron jobs as well as websites. UptimeRobot, Checkly, StatusCake and Cronitor count a cron (heartbeat) check as an ordinary monitor; Better Stack sells them separately after 10; Oh Dear includes 5 for each site.
- You'd rather not run a server. Uptime Kuma is free, but you install, update and back it up yourself, and it has to run somewhere other than the servers it watches, or it goes down with them.
Who made this page
An AI agent read each service's pricing page and help pages in a real browser set to UK English, chose monthly billing and set the monitor counts with each page's own switches and menus (Site24x7's currency menu set to pounds), and copied the sentence behind every figure; code checked each sentence was really on the page before it could be used.
There are no affiliate links on this page and nothing on it earns a commission. Several of these services run affiliate programmes, listed below for readers who recommend tools to clients; this site hasn't joined any of them.
How the numbers are worked out
monthly cost = the cheapest plan, billed month to month, that runs at least that many monitors checked every minute or faster, with commercial use allowed, for one user, + any add-on packs and per-user charges needed to get there
- 10 monitors: a solo builder or small team: the main site, an API or two, a status endpoint and a few cron jobs
- 50 monitors: a small SaaS or an agency: several sites or client sites, their APIs and background jobs
- 200 monitors: an agency watching many client sites, or a product with many endpoints and jobs
Status pages, SMS alerts and extra users are not added; each line says what the plan includes and what extra costs. Free plans don't count, because none checks every minute. Uptime Kuma is free self-hosted software, shown unranked: the server it needs isn't priced here.
VAT. Every price is before VAT, in the vendor's own currency: pounds (Pingdom, StatusCake, Site24x7), euros (UptimeRobot, Hyperping, Oh Dear) or dollars (Better Stack, Checkly, Cronitor).
| Service | 10 monitors | 50 monitors | 200 monitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| UptimeRoboteuros as served to this research: UptimeRobot says its prices are 'geo-banded', so a UK visitor may see other figures. No Solo tier between 50 and 100 monitors, so 200 needs Scale. 1 credit per UK SMS, 2 per voice call. Cron (heartbeat) monitors count as monitors. Solo keeps 12 months of data. Its free plan (50 monitors every 5 minutes) is the only one here that allows commercial use | £10.85Solo, 10-monitor tier: checks every 60 seconds; 3 status pages on your own domain included; 10–20 SMS/voice credits included, more as one-time packs from $3 for 10; €13 a month · €13.00 · ≈$14.56 | £23.36Solo, 50-monitor tier: checks every 60 seconds; 3 status pages included; 10–20 SMS/voice credits, more as one-time packs; €28 a month · €28.00 · ≈$31.34 | £69.25Scale, 200-monitor tier: checks every 15 seconds; unlimited status pages; 50–200 SMS/voice credits included; 5 login seats; €83 a month · €83.00 · ≈$92.91 |
| Better Stackthe $34 licence is charged for every person who gets alerts, the first one included; team members who only view data are free. Cron (heartbeat) monitors are counted separately: 10 included, then $20 a month for each 10 more. White-label status pages $250 a page a month. The page opens on yearly prices ($29 a licence). Free plan: 'Free for personal projects', checks every 3 minutes | £25.341 Responder licence, $34, which includes 10 monitors: checks every 30 seconds; 1 status page included (more $15 a month each); unlimited SMS and phone-call alerts; $34 a month · $34.00 | £43.981 Responder licence ($34) + one pack of 50 monitors ($25) = 60 monitors: 30-second checks; 1 status page included; unlimited SMS and phone calls; $59 a month · $59.00 | £99.881 Responder licence ($34) + four packs of 50 ($100) = 210 monitors: 30-second checks; 1 status page included; unlimited SMS and phone calls; $134 a month · $134.00 |
| Pingdomsold in fixed bundles (10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 300 and up), each with some SMS credits; extra SMS is bought by autofill at a price the page doesn't give. Unlimited users. No free plan, only a 30-day trial. Monthly payment is about 13% more than annual | £14.00Synthetic Monitoring bundle of 10 uptime checks + 1 advanced check: checks every minute; public status pages included; 50 SMS a month, refilled monthly, no phone calls listed; £14 a month · ≈$18.78 | £60.00Bundle of 50 uptime + 10 advanced checks: every minute; public status pages included; 200 SMS a month; £60 a month · ≈$80.50 | £222.00Bundle of 200 uptime + 30 advanced checks: every minute; public status pages included; 400 SMS a month; £222 a month · ≈$297.83 |
| ChecklyStarter keeps raw results for only 7 days (30 days aggregated). 3 users included. Cron (heartbeat) monitors count as uptime monitors. Team ($80) adds 30-second checks and phone alerts. Free Hobby plan: 'Perfect for personal projects and learning', every 2 minutes | £21.62Starter (Detect), which includes 50 uptime monitors: checks every minute at most; status pages are a separate Communicate plan (free without a custom domain, $12 a month with one); 100 SMS a month, no phone alerts; $29 a month · $29.00 | £21.62Starter (Detect), 50 uptime monitors: every minute; status pages via the separate Communicate plan; 100 SMS a month, no phone alerts; $29 a month · $29.00 | £66.34Starter $29 + six blocks of 25 extra monitors at $10 ($60) = 200 monitors: every minute; status pages via Communicate; 100 SMS a month, no phone alerts; $89 a month · $89.00 |
| StatusCakeStatusCake Pages, its status-page product, is Bronze £11.95, Silver £39.95 or Gold £193.95 a month. Extra SMS credits can be bought, 50 to 500 at a time, at a price that isn't published. PUSH (heartbeat) tests count as uptime monitors. Annual billing is ten months' price. Its terms say the free account 'is for your own personal use' | £14.99Superior, which includes 100 uptime monitors: checks every minute; no status page in the plan (StatusCake Pages from £11.95 a month); 75 SMS credits a month; 2 logins; £14.99 a month · ≈$20.11 | £14.99Superior, 100 uptime monitors: every minute; status pages extra, from £11.95 a month; 75 SMS credits a month; £14.99 a month · ≈$20.11 | £49.99Business, 300 uptime monitors: checks every 30 seconds; status pages extra, from £11.95 a month; 400 SMS credits a month on the pricing page (its help centre says 500); 10 logins; £49.99 a month · ≈$67.07 |
| Site24x7pounds chosen in its own currency menu ($10 in dollars). Its pages disagree on SMS: the pricing comparison says Web Uptime allows 'Only email alerts', but the free-plan page lists 'Email, SMS' for the same plan, so check before relying on SMS. SMS and voice alerts use alert credits, and the monthly quota isn't published. Keeps 2 years of data | £8.00Web Uptime, which includes 25 websites: checks every minute, polled from one location; 3 status pages included; alerts: email, and SMS from monthly alert credits is uncertain (see note); £8 a month · ≈$10.73 | £22.00Web Uptime £8 + one 50-monitor add-on (£14) = 75 monitors: every minute from one location; 3 status pages; email alerts, SMS uncertain; £22 a month · ≈$29.52 | £64.00Web Uptime £8 + four 50-monitor add-ons (£56) = 225 monitors: every minute from one location; 3 status pages; email alerts, SMS uncertain; £64 a month · ≈$85.86 |
| Hyperpingprices in euros. Extra seats €7 a month on Essentials. The page doesn't say whether SMS credits renew each month or what more cost. Yearly billing gives two months free. Free plan: 'For personal projects and trying out Hyperping', every 5 minutes | £24.19Essentials, which includes 50 monitors: checks every 30 seconds; 1 status page with custom domain included; 20 SMS credits, phone-call alerts included; 3 seats; €29 a month · €29.00 · ≈$32.45 | £24.19Essentials, 50 monitors: every 30 seconds; 1 status page with custom domain; 20 SMS credits, phone calls included; €29 a month · €29.00 · ≈$32.45 | £74.25Pro, 250 monitors: every 30 seconds; 3 public or private status pages; 75 SMS credits, phone calls included; 10 seats; €89 a month · €89.00 · ≈$99.61 |
| Cronitorcharges $5 a month for every user, the first one included, on top of $2 a monitor; cron jobs, heartbeats and website checks are all monitors at the same price. 'Volume-based discounts' are mentioned without figures. 12 months of data. Monthly billing only. Free Hacker plan: 'for homelabs and small projects', every 5 minutes | £18.63Business: 10 monitors × $2 + 1 user × $5; checks as often as every 30 seconds; 1 basic status page included (branded $25 a month); SMS alerts included; $25 a month · $25.00 | £78.26Business: 50 × $2 + 1 user × $5; every 30 seconds; 1 basic status page; SMS included; $105 a month · $105.00 | £301.88Business: 200 × $2 + 1 user × $5; every 30 seconds; 1 basic status page; SMS included; $405 a month · $405.00 |
| Oh Dearprices by site, and each site also gets SSL, broken-link, DNS and performance checks plus 5 cron monitors, which makes it the dearest per monitor here. Euros on three of four loads; one load from the same server showed dollars ($55 for Freelance). No free plan; 10-day trial. Yearly is ten months' price | £40.88Freelance, up to 10 sites and servers: uptime checked every minute; public status pages and unlimited users on every plan; SMS only through your own Vonage account (you pay Vonage); €49 a month · €49.00 · ≈$54.84 | £124.31Agency, up to 50 sites and servers: every minute; status pages and unlimited users included; SMS through your own Vonage account; €149 a month · €149.00 · ≈$166.77 | £332.89Scale, up to 200 sites and servers: every minute; status pages and unlimited users included; SMS through your own Vonage account; €399 a month · €399.00 · ≈$446.60 |
| Uptime Kuma (self-hosted)the software costs nothing, but it needs a server (Docker, or Node.js) and you look after updates and backups. It checks from wherever you run it, so put it somewhere other than the servers it watches, or it goes down with them | freeSelf-hosted: you run and pay for the server. Free, open-source software (MIT licence): checks as often as every 20 seconds; status pages on your own domain; alerts through 90+ notification services, any SMS service billed by its provider | freeSelf-hosted: you run and pay for the server. Free software with no monitor limit; status pages; alerts through services you connect | freeSelf-hosted: you run and pay for the server. Free software with no monitor limit; status pages; alerts through services you connect |
Exchange rates. ECB euro reference rates of 9 November 2026 (published that afternoon; fetched 23:30 UTC): 1 EUR = 0.83430 GBP, 1 EUR = 1.1193 USD, so 1 USD = 0.74538 GBP.
Left out: Freshping — discontinued: Freshworks disabled free accounts on 6 March 2026 and stopped paid renewals; Enterprise and quote-only tiers — no published monthly price, or annual contracts only (UptimeRobot, Pingdom, StatusCake, Checkly, Hyperping, Cronitor and Site24x7 Enterprise, StatusCake Custom, Oh Dear above 200 sites).
If you'll recommend one: what each pays you
Many readers of this page look after sites for clients. This is what each service pays someone who refers a paying customer, from its own affiliate page. This site hasn't joined any of them, and it plays no part in the order above.
| Service | Commission | Cookie |
|---|---|---|
| UptimeRobot | 20% of every full-price payment for as long as the customer stays subscribed (less if they had a discount) | 30 days |
| Hyperping | 30% of every payment in the customer's first 12 months | 90 days |
| Oh Dear | 25% of everything the customer pays in their first 12 months | 30 days |
| Site24x7 (via Zoho) | Zoho's programme pays 15% of each qualified sale for 12 months; Zoho's page doesn't confirm Site24x7 earns the same, so ask when applying | 90 days |
There are no affiliate links on this page. UptimeRobot, Hyperping and Oh Dear run affiliate programmes, and Site24x7 points affiliates to Zoho's; this site hasn't joined any of them. The research is done by AI agents reading each vendor's own pages. Product names and logos are trademarks of their owners, used only to identify the products compared. No analytics cookies, no tracking scripts, no third-party requests. A personal project, separate from the author's day job.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest uptime monitoring that checks every minute?
Month to month and before VAT, on this page's figures: Site24x7's Web Uptime at £8 for up to 25 websites, polled from one location; UptimeRobot Solo at €13 (about £10.85) for 10 monitors; and StatusCake Superior at £14.99, which allows up to 100 monitors. Uptime Kuma is free software, but it is self-hosted: you run and pay for the server.
Can I use UptimeRobot's free plan for a business?
Yes: it is the only free plan on this page that says so ('Good for personal and commercial projects'). It has 50 monitors checked every 5 minutes. Better Stack, Checkly, Hyperping and Cronitor pitch their free plans at personal projects, and StatusCake's terms say its free account is for your own personal use.
How much does Better Stack cost per month?
Paid use starts with a $34-a-month 'responder' licence for each person who gets alerts, which includes 10 monitors, unlimited SMS and phone-call alerts and one status page. Extra monitors are $25 per 50, so 50 monitors cost $59 and 200 cost $134 a month on monthly billing. Cron (heartbeat) monitors are counted separately: 10 included, then $20 a month for each 10 more.
How much does it cost to monitor 200 websites?
From £49.99 a month on StatusCake Business (300 monitors, 30-second checks) to €399 (about £332.89) on Oh Dear Scale, month to month before VAT. Site24x7 is £64, Checkly $89 (about £66.34) and UptimeRobot Scale €83 (about £69.25).
Answers use the figures on this page, last checked 9 Nov 2026.