StillUpBest Uptime Monitoring Tools in 2026
Honest breakdown of the top uptime monitoring tools. We cover free plans, check intervals, status pages, alert channels, and pricing — so you can pick the right tool without wasting time on trials.
TL;DR — Quick picks
- Best overall for indie founders: StillUp — 1-min checks free, Discord/Telegram, $9/mo
- Best for on-call teams: Better Stack — polished, $24/mo, strong escalation
- Most monitors free: UptimeRobot or Freshping — 50 monitors, 5-min or 1-min checks
- Enterprise / performance data: Pingdom — but expect $40–80/mo
StillUpOur pick
Best for indie founders and small SaaS teams.
Price
Free / $9/mo
Check interval
1 min (free & paid)
Alert channels
Slack, Discord, Telegram, Email
Free monitors
3
Status page
Included
Custom domain
Included
Pros
- +1-minute checks on the free plan — most tools charge for this
- +Discord and Telegram alerts on all plans
- +Custom domain included free
- +Public status page with incident management
- +Flat $9/mo — no per-seat pricing surprises
Cons
- −50 monitors max on Pro (fine for most small teams)
- −No multi-location checks yet
Best for
Indie hackers, solo founders, small SaaS teams
Better Stack
Best for teams that need on-call scheduling.
Price
Free / $24/mo
Check interval
3 min (free) / 1 min (paid)
Alert channels
Slack, Discord, Email, PagerDuty
Free monitors
10
Status page
Included
Custom domain
Included
Pros
- +Polished UI and developer experience
- +Strong on-call scheduling and escalation policies
- +Discord alerts included
- +Good log management tools alongside monitoring
Cons
- −$24/mo entry price — more than double StillUp
- −No Telegram support
- −3-minute free plan check interval
Best for
Growing teams with on-call workflows
UptimeRobot
Best for pure simplicity on a zero budget.
Price
Free / $7/mo
Check interval
5 min (free) / 1 min (paid)
Alert channels
Email, Slack (Pro), Webhooks
Free monitors
50
Status page
Included
Custom domain
No
Pros
- +50 monitors free — the most of any tool
- +Simple, proven, widely trusted
- +Very low paid tier at $7/mo
Cons
- −5-minute free check interval
- −No Discord or Telegram on any plan
- −Dated status page with no customisation
- −No custom domain on free
- −No incident management
Best for
Basic monitoring with maximum free monitors
Freshping
Best if you're already in the Freshworks ecosystem.
Price
Free (Freshworks account required)
Check interval
1 min (free)
Alert channels
Email, Slack, Webhooks
Free monitors
50
Status page
Included
Custom domain
No
Pros
- +50 monitors with 1-minute checks — generously free
- +Multi-location monitoring on free plan
- +Tight Freshworks integrations if you use them
Cons
- −Requires a full Freshworks account — ecosystem lock-in
- −No Discord or Telegram
- −No custom domain on free
- −Loss-leader pricing — expect upsells
Best for
Teams already using Freshworks products
Pingdom
Best for large teams that need detailed performance data.
Price
From $15/mo
Check interval
1 min
Alert channels
Email, Slack, PagerDuty, Webhooks
Free monitors
None
Status page
Add-on / No
Custom domain
Included
Pros
- +Detailed real user monitoring (RUM)
- +Strong multi-location uptime checks
- +Trusted by large enterprises
Cons
- −No free plan
- −Status page is a separate paid add-on
- −No Discord or Telegram
- −Meaningful plans cost $40–80/mo
Best for
Enterprise teams focused on RUM and performance monitoring
What to look for in an uptime monitoring tool
Check interval
A 5-minute interval means your site can be down for nearly 5 minutes before you're alerted. For anything customer-facing, 1 minute is the right target.
Alert channels
Email alone isn't enough for urgent incidents. Look for Slack, Discord, or Telegram — wherever your team actually responds to notifications fast.
Free plan quality
A generous free plan lets you validate the tool before committing. Watch for bait-and-switch free tiers with 5-minute checks or no status page.
Status page included
Your users need somewhere to go during an incident. A status page that's a paid add-on doubles your effective cost.
Custom domain
status.yourcompany.com builds trust. If it requires a paid plan or extra fee, factor that into the real cost.
Incident management
Being able to post timestamped updates during an outage reduces support tickets. Not all monitoring tools include this.
Start monitoring free
StillUp — 1-minute checks, Discord/Telegram alerts, public status page. Free forever for up to 3 monitors.
Get started free →