Website monitoring free: The best free website monitoring tools compared

Uptime is crucial – after all, even the best website is useless if it’s not accessible. Fortunately, there are plenty of free website monitoring tools that allow you to automatically oversee your online presence. Many of these services can do more than just check if your site is online – they measure, for example, load times, SSL validity, or server response times. In this article, we will look at the most well-known free website monitoring tools and compare what features they offer in their free plans.

Comparison of the best free website monitoring tools

Here you will find a selection of the best free website monitoring tools and information about their range of features:

UptimeRobot

UptimeRobot is one of the most popular free website monitoring tools and already offers a solid basic setup in its free plan. The free version is available permanently and checks your website’s availability every 5 minutes. You can create up to 50 monitors – whether for HTTPS websites, ping tests of network devices, port monitoring, or keyword monitoring, where a specific text in the source code is checked.

You receive notifications free of charge via email or through the app, while SMS or call notifications are only available with paid credits. A useful feature is also the Status Page, where you can publicly or privately track your uptime – ideal for transparently informing customers or team members about the status of your website.

Overview of features in the UptimeRobot Free Plan

• permanently free
• Check interval 5 minutes
• 50 monitoring entries
• Monitoring types:
• HTTPS
• Keyword
• Ping
• Port
• Notification via email or app free of charge
• Notification via SMS or call requires credits (paid)
• Status Page

StatusCake

StatusCake offers a solid foundation for monitoring your website and key server services in the free plan. The free plan is permanently free and checks your website every 5 minutes for availability. You can set up to 10 monitors and utilise not only classic HTTPS checks but also TCP, DNS, SMTP, SSH, PING, and PUSH monitoring – ideal if you want to keep an eye on various services.

Additionally, a PageSpeed test and SSL monitoring are available, though both are limited in the free version. Email notifications are included, while SMS or call alerts require credits (paid). Therefore, StatusCake is especially suitable for users who want to monitor multiple server types simultaneously at no cost.

Features of the StatusCake Free Plan

• permanently free
• Check interval 5 minutes
• 10 monitoring entries
• Monitoring types:
• HTTPS
• HEAD
• TCP
• DNS
• SMTP
• SSH
• PING
• PUSH
• 1x PageSpeed (limited)
• 1x SSL (limited)
• Notification via email free of charge
• Notification via SMS or call requires credits (paid)
• No Status Page

SiteUptime

SiteUptime is one of the oldest website monitoring services and offers a simple, permanently free plan. The free version checks your website every 30 minutes and allows for one monitor – optionally for HTTP, SMTP, POP3, or FTP connections. Therefore, the free plan is especially suitable for basic availability checks without additional features.

Email notifications are included, but phone or SMS alerts are only available in paid plans. A status page is not included in the free plan, making SiteUptime a lean but reliable solution for basic checks.

SiteUptime Free Plan Features at a Glance

• Permanently free
• Check interval: 30 minutes
• 1 monitoring entry
• Monitoring types:
• HTTP
• SMTP
• POP3
• FTP
• Free email notifications
• Phone/SMS not included in the free plan
• No status page in the free plan

Pulsetic

Pulsetic is a modern website monitoring tool with an attractively designed dashboard and a permanently free plan. In the free plan, you can set up to 10 monitors that check your website or services every 5 minutes – via HTTP, TCP, or ICMP (Ping). Additionally, you can monitor SSL certificates and specific keywords in your website code to detect potential issues early.

Notifications are free via email, while SMS or phone alerts are only available in paid plans. A particularly useful feature is the ability to create up to three custom status pages to transparently display the availability of your projects – ideal for agencies, freelancers, or small teams.

Pulsetic Free Plan Features at a Glance

• Permanently free
• Check interval: 5 minutes
• 10 monitoring entries
• Monitoring types:
• HTTP
• TCP
• ICMP
• SSL
• Keyword
• Free email notifications
• Phone/SMS not included in the free plan
• 3 status pages

Montastic

Montastic is an uncomplicated website monitoring tool that can be used permanently free of charge. With the Free plan, you can check up to 50 websites every 5 minutes for availability – ideal for simple HTTP checks. Notifications are sent via email as soon as a site becomes unreachable, and additionally, you have access to a free status page to publicly display the current online status. This makes Montastic particularly suitable for users seeking a simple and reliable solution without extensive setup effort.

Montastic Free Plan Features at a Glance

• permanently free
• Check interval: 5 minutes
• 50 monitoring entries
• Monitoring types:
• HTTP
• Free email notifications
• 1 free status page

Conclusion

All the tools presented are excellent for monitoring a website for free – the difference mainly lies in the details. Montastic and SiteUptime are ideal entry-level options for simple projects that only require basic availability checks. UptimeRobot offers significantly more flexibility with 50 monitors and multiple check types and is one of the most popular all-round solutions. If you want to monitor additional services such as TCP, DNS or SSH, StatusCake is a good choice. For a modern dashboard, keyword and SSL checks, as well as custom status pages, Pulsetic is the best free option – especially for freelancers, agencies, and small teams wanting to keep multiple projects in view simultaneously.

Explanation of Important Monitoring Features

Many of the free website monitoring tools offer much more than simple availability checks. In addition to classic uptime checks, many services also monitor server ports, SSL certificates, or specific content on a website.

The main features at a glance:

• HTTP and HTTPS monitoring

This basic function regularly checks whether a website is accessible and responds correctly to HTTP or HTTPS requests. For HTTPS, it also verifies whether a secure connection is established via a valid SSL certificate.

• Ping monitoring (ICMP)

A ping test sends small data packets to the server to measure whether it is reachable and how quickly it responds. It is a simple method to detect connection problems or server outages.

• TCP monitoring

With TCP checks, it is verified whether a specific network port on a server is open and reachable. This allows not only websites but also other services such as email or database servers to be monitored.

• Port monitoring

Similar to TCP monitoring but usually with preset configurations. It specifically checks whether a service is accessible via the desired port (e.g., port 80 for HTTP or port 443 for HTTPS).

• Keyword monitoring

This involves regularly searching for a specific text or term within the source code of a website. If the term is missing or the content has changed, you will receive a notification. This is particularly useful to ensure that important content or shop elements are displayed correctly.

• DNS monitoring

This function checks whether a domain resolves correctly and points to the right IP address. Incorrect DNS records can cause a website to be inaccessible – DNS checks can detect such issues early.

• SSL monitoring

This check ensures that your SSL certificate is valid and renewed in time. Many tools send a warning when the certificate is about to expire or is incorrectly installed.

• SMTP, POP3, and FTP monitoring

These checks are aimed at operators of email and FTP servers. They test whether connections to these services can be established and whether login works. This allows problems with email sending or file uploads to be identified early.

• HEAD and PUSH checks

HEAD checks only examine the header of a website, without loading the entire page – saving time and bandwidth. PUSH checks, on the other hand, expect a system to regularly send status updates to the monitoring tool – ideal for APIs or internal processes.

• PageSpeed tests

Many monitoring services measure the loading time of your website and record how quickly the server responds to requests. Slow load times can indicate overloaded systems or faulty scripts and negatively impact user experience and SEO.

• Status pages

Many providers offer a dedicated status page where you can publicly or internally display your website’s uptime and current accessibility. This creates transparency for customers or team members.

• Notifications and alerting

All tools notify you in case of outages or errors. By default, this is via email, and sometimes also through app notifications. In paid plans, SMS, phone, or chat alerts can often be activated.

When is a paid plan worthwhile?

Free website monitoring tools are ideal for keeping an eye on your own website or smaller projects. They usually cover all basic functions – such as regular uptime checks, email notifications, and simple status pages. However, those managing multiple websites, complex systems, or mission-critical applications quickly reach the limits of the free versions.

Typical restrictions include the number of monitors, check intervals (usually every 5 to 10 minutes), and the scope of notifications. Features like SMS or phone alerts, advanced reports, geographically distributed test locations, or integrations with tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are often only available in paid versions.

An upgrade to a paid plan is especially worthwhile for agencies, companies with multiple domains or online shops, where downtime results in direct revenue loss. Those requiring higher check frequencies (e.g., every 60 seconds) or detailed analysis functions also benefit from the extended capabilities of premium plans.

Tips for effective website monitoring

With the right settings, you can get significantly more out of any monitoring tool. The following practical tips help to detect outages more quickly and avoid false alarms:

• Test from multiple locations: Perform your checks from different regions (e.g. Europe, USA, Asia). This ensures your website is accessible worldwide and that there are no location-dependent issues.
• Send only relevant alerts: Limit notifications to genuinely affected persons or teams. Too many unnecessary alarms can quickly lead to warnings being overlooked or ignored.
• Regularly check status pages: A status page is only useful if it functions correctly and remains up to date. Therefore, regularly verify that all services are displayed correctly.
• Keep an eye on SSL and domain validity: Many outages are caused by expired certificates or domains. Automatic reminders help to renew in time and avoid disruptions.
• Schedule maintenance times: Define planned maintenance windows so that your monitoring does not generate false alarms during updates or server work.
• Analyse data over the long term: Pay attention not only to immediate outages but also to trends – such as gradually increasing response times. This allows you to identify problems early before they lead to real outages.

With these simple measures, website monitoring becomes not only more reliable but also more efficient – whether you manage a single project or multiple client websites.

Our article is based on personal experience and research, as well as information from external sources.

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