Comparison · checked 2 November 2026
UptimeRobot vs Uptime Kuma
UptimeRobot is a hosted service with a free plan (50 monitors every 5 minutes); Uptime Kuma is free, open source (MIT) software that you run on your own server. Uptime Kuma checks as often as every 20 seconds, but it only sees your sites from wherever that server is, and it can’t alert you if the server itself is down.
Which one suits you
Choose UptimeRobot if
- You don’t want to run and patch a server for monitoring
- You want checks from several regions
- You want SMS and phone calls
Choose Uptime Kuma if
- You want to self-host and keep everything in-house
- You want 90+ notification services and push monitors for free
- You already run a server outside the network you monitor
UptimeRobot vs Uptime Kuma, side by side
Free plans, prices, check intervals and features, each from the provider’s own pages and linked to its source. Uptimecheck is in the last column as a third option.
| Compared | UptimeRobot | Uptime Kuma | Uptimecheck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes: 50 monitors every 5 minutes, “for personal and commercial projects” source for UptimeRobot | Free software; you run and pay for the server source for Uptime Kuma | Yes: 5 monitors every 5 minutes, 1 status page; commercial use allowed more for Uptimecheck |
| Cheapest paid plan | Solo: €9 a month billed yearly, or €10 monthly (10 monitors) source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | Start: €9 a month billed yearly, or €12 monthly, excl. VAT more for Uptimecheck |
| Shortest check interval | 60 seconds on Solo, 15 seconds on its largest plan source for UptimeRobot | 20 seconds source for Uptime Kuma | 1 minute on every paid plan more for Uptimecheck |
| Check locations | North America, Europe, Asia and Australia source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | 3: Stockholm, London and New York more for Uptimecheck |
| Failures confirmed from another location | Yes source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | Yes, before any incident opens more for Uptimecheck |
| Status pages | Basic on Free; 3 with your own domain from Solo source for UptimeRobot | Multiple, with custom domains source for Uptime Kuma | Every plan (1 on Free), with subscribers; no custom domain more for Uptimecheck |
| SMS alerts | With credits, none on Free source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | Paid plans: 50 or 200 credits a month on Professional and Business, packs on any paid plan more for Uptimecheck |
| Phone call alerts | With credits source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | No |
| Cron job and heartbeat monitoring | Yes source for UptimeRobot | Yes, push monitors source for Uptime Kuma | Yes, with start and finish pings and exit codes more for Uptimecheck |
| SSL and domain expiry | Yes source for UptimeRobot | Certificate info source for Uptime Kuma | Yes, both more for Uptimecheck |
| Public API | REST API on every plan source for UptimeRobot | Not stated | REST API and MCP server on Professional and Business more for Uptimecheck |
| Open source or self-hosted | Not stated | Open source (MIT), self-hosted only source for Uptime Kuma | No, hosted only |
Competitor facts are taken from each provider’s own website and were checked on 2 November 2026. “Not stated” means we couldn’t find it on their site, not that it’s missing. Plans change: check the source before you decide.
A third option: Uptimecheck
We make Uptimecheck, so take this part as ours. It checks websites, APIs, ports and ping targets every minute on paid plans from Stockholm, London and New York, confirms every failure from another location, and shows the evidence on each incident: the failing response, a screenshot or a traceroute.
Status pages, cron jobs, SSL and domain expiry and on-call schedules are included on every plan, not sold as add-ons. The free plan has 5 monitors with no end date, paid plans start at €9 a month billed yearly, and the app and data are hosted in Stockholm. See pricing or how to switch.
14-day free trial · Then free on 5 monitors · No credit card
Questions
Do UptimeRobot and Uptime Kuma have a free plan?
UptimeRobot: Yes: 50 monitors every 5 minutes, “for personal and commercial projects”. Uptime Kuma: Free software; you run and pay for the server.
Which is cheaper, UptimeRobot or Uptime Kuma?
UptimeRobot: Solo: €9 a month billed yearly, or €10 monthly (10 monitors). Uptime Kuma: not stated on its website. Prices are as each provider shows them, so currencies and VAT can differ.
Which checks more often, UptimeRobot or Uptime Kuma?
UptimeRobot: 60 seconds on Solo, 15 seconds on its largest plan. Uptime Kuma: 20 seconds.
Do UptimeRobot and Uptime Kuma include status pages?
UptimeRobot: Basic on Free; 3 with your own domain from Solo. Uptime Kuma: Multiple, with custom domains.
Is there an alternative to UptimeRobot and Uptime Kuma?
Uptimecheck is one, made in Sweden. Free plan: 5 monitors every 5 minutes, 1 status page; commercial use allowed. Paid: Start: €9 a month billed yearly, or €12 monthly, excl. VAT, with checks every minute from Stockholm, London and New York, every failure confirmed from another location, status pages, cron jobs and alerts in Slack, Teams, email or push. It imports monitors from UptimeRobot, Better Stack, Pingdom and StatusCake.
Where do these facts come from?
From each provider’s own website, checked on 2 November 2026, with every fact linked to its source in the table. Uptimecheck makes one of the products compared here, so check the sources before you decide.
Downtime is obsolete.
Set up your first monitor in under a minute, or look around the live demo first.
14-day free trial · Then free on 5 monitors · No credit card