Uptime Kuma vs UptimeRobot
UptimeRobot's free tier gives you 50 monitors at 5-minute intervals. Solo is $10/mo, or $9/mo billed annually, for 10 monitors at 60-second checks. Uptime Kuma offers unlimited monitors with 20-second intervals for $3/mo on InstaPods.
Uptime Kuma vs UptimeRobot: The Verdict
UptimeRobot's free tier (50 monitors at 5-minute checks) is the easiest way to start, and it is genuinely useful for a personal project with zero setup. Faster checks, SSL monitoring and white-label status pages sit behind paid plans: Solo is $10/mo or $9/mo annual for 10 monitors at 60 seconds, Team is $41/mo or $35/mo annual for 100 monitors at 30 seconds, and Scale is $77/mo or $65/mo annual for 200 monitors at 15 seconds. Uptime Kuma gives you unlimited monitors at 20-second checks, more monitor types (DNS, Docker, gRPC, MQTT), and unlimited status pages, self-hosted for $3/mo. Two places UptimeRobot genuinely wins: its Scale tier checks every 15 seconds, faster than Uptime Kuma, and it probes from four regions where a single Uptime Kuma instance probes from one. Choose UptimeRobot for multi-region checks or a zero-setup free tier; choose Uptime Kuma when the monitor count or the bill is what is pinching.
Last updated: 2026-08-27Quick Comparison
| Feature | UptimeRobot | Uptime Kuma |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free (50 monitors); Solo $10/mo, or $9/mo annual (10 monitors) | $3/mo total (self-hosted on InstaPods) |
| Free Monitors | 50 (5-min interval) | Unlimited (self-hosted) |
| Check Interval | 5 min Free, 60s Solo, 30s Team, 15s Scale | Down to 20 seconds on every plan |
| Cost of 100 Monitors | Team: $41/mo, or $35/mo billed annually ($420/yr) | $3/mo ($36/yr), and the count does not matter |
| Monitor Types | HTTP, keyword, ping, port, API, UDP, DNS, SSL and domain expiry, heartbeat | HTTP, TCP, DNS, ping, Docker, MQTT, gRPC, WebSocket, push, and more |
| Status Pages | 3 on Solo, 100 white-label on Team, unlimited on Scale | Unlimited with custom domains |
| Multi-Region Checks | Yes - North America, Europe, Asia, Australia | No - one instance probes from one place |
| SSL Monitoring | Paid plans only, per UptimeRobot's own note | Included |
| Notification Channels | Email, SMS, voice call, plus tiered integrations | 90+ channels |
| Source Code | Closed source | Open source (MIT license) |
Where UptimeRobot Gets Expensive
Trade-offs to weigh before committing.
5-Minute Intervals on Free
Free monitors check every 5 minutes. Your site can be down for almost five minutes before anything tells you. Getting to 60-second checks means the Solo plan at $10/mo, or $9/mo billed annually.
The Bill Tracks Your Monitor Count
Solo covers 10 monitors, Team covers 100 at $41/mo (or $35/mo annual), Scale covers 200 at $77/mo (or $65/mo annual). Every batch of endpoints you add walks you toward the next tier. Self-hosted, the monitor count is not a billing input at all.
SSL Monitoring Needs a Paid Plan
UptimeRobot's own pricing page states that SSL monitoring is included only in paid plans. Certificate expiry is something every site needs watched, and Uptime Kuma includes it at no tier.
White-Label Status Pages Are a Tier Up
The free plan gets basic status pages and Solo gets 3 on your own domain. White-label pages start on Team at $41/mo, or $35/mo billed annually. Uptime Kuma gives you unlimited branded pages on the $3/mo pod.
Why Self-Host with Uptime Kuma?
What you get when you pick this stack.
20-Second Checks on the $3 Plan
Uptime Kuma checks every 20 seconds with no tier attached, which beats UptimeRobot's Free (5 min), Solo (60s) and Team (30s). Their Scale plan does get to 15 seconds, so if five extra seconds of detection is worth $65/mo to you, that is the honest trade.
More Monitor Types
Beyond HTTP and ping: Docker, DNS records, game servers, MQTT brokers, gRPC services, WebSocket endpoints, JSON-query assertions and push monitors for background jobs.
Branded Status Pages, No Tier
Unlimited status pages with your own branding and your own domains, included from the first day. On UptimeRobot, white-label pages start on the Team plan.
Better UI
Uptime Kuma's dashboard is modern, responsive, and clean. UptimeRobot's interface hasn't changed much in years.
Real Cost Comparison
Monitoring 60 endpoints with sub-minute checks, SSL monitoring, and a white-label status page.
- Solo ($10/mo, or $9/mo annual) only covers 10 monitors
- UptimeRobot Team: $41/mo, or $35/mo billed annually
- 60 monitors: covered by Team's 100
- 30-second checks, SSL and 100 white-label status pages: included on Team
- InstaPods Launch plan: $3/mo
- Uptime Kuma: free (open source)
- Unlimited monitors with 20s intervals
- SSL monitoring + status pages included
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not just use UptimeRobot's free plan?
It is decent for basic monitoring, but 5-minute intervals mean slow detection, SSL monitoring is paid-only by UptimeRobot's own note, and white-label status pages start on Team. For $3/mo on InstaPods, Uptime Kuma gives you 20-second checks, unlimited monitors and unlimited branded status pages. What it does not give you is multi-region probing.
Does UptimeRobot have better uptime than self-hosted?
UptimeRobot probes from four regions (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia), which genuinely helps with regional outages and is the one thing a single Uptime Kuma instance cannot match. Uptime Kuma monitors from wherever you host it. For most teams that is enough, and you still catch downtime within 20 seconds.
Can I migrate from UptimeRobot to Uptime Kuma?
There's no automatic import, but re-creating monitors in Uptime Kuma is quick. Add the URL, set the interval, configure notifications - each monitor takes about 30 seconds to set up.
Is Uptime Kuma's UI really better?
Uptime Kuma has a clean, modern, reactive UI built with Vue.js. Real-time updates, smooth animations, and a responsive layout. UptimeRobot's dashboard works fine but feels dated in comparison.
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