This post will discuss why it is important to monitor uptime of your website. We will introduce you to some of the top tools for monitoring website performance, such as Hetrix Tools and Uptime Robot. These services keep a vigilant eye on your website’s uptime and promptly alert you via SMS, email, or Slack when there’s downtime. Maintaining the uptime of your website and getting alerted when the website is not reachable, is more crucial than ever. Let’s explore some tools to help us in this process.
Don’t let the heading carry you away. I merely wrote a myth, or an act of bravado, or a casual response from many people when you ask them, “How do you track that your website is online and accessible ?”
The reply I have often heard goes something like this. No surprises for guessing, that was my reply merely three years ago!
I host my website at web host X, and I have subscribed to their top notch Plan Y. They guarantee me 99.xxxx percent uptime, so I do not have to worry.
-Amar Vyas, October 2017
Epiphany After a Pitch
In mid-November 2017, I was pitching our latest podcast, Fairytales of India, to a brand. We (i.e. gaathastory, my podcasting venture) were almost on cruise control- there was a great fit between the brand and our show. Everything went well, till someone asked us to take them to our podcast website. Needless to say, the website was not accessible. We left with an egg on our face, and after much effort, could with a follow up meeting with the brand. We really needed a handle on our online presence.
We learnt later that the server had experienced some issues an hour before we were to start the pitch. Had we known before the meeting that the website was down, we could have taken some corrective measures. Server monitoring was an after thought till that incident.
The Need to Monitor Uptime of Your Website
Contrary to what some may believe, even if your web host guarantees a 99.xxxx percent uptime, it’s still essential to monitor your website’s uptime. This was a lesson I learned the hard way three years ago when I thought my top-notch hosting plan was enough to ensure my website’s availability.
The need for a website monitoring tool was reinforced when I visited the farmhouse of Author and speaker, Kiruba Shankar near Chennai. During one of our discussions, one of the guests (Karthik) received a text message (sms alert) that their client/s website had gone down. It took a series of phone calls, opening of laptops and me volunteering to share my mobile phones hotspot to resolve the issue. After the mini crisis was over, I asked Karthik the website monitoring service he used.
Long story short, it was a premium service promising solid online presence, whose base plan started at dozens of US Dollars a month. As a 18 month old startup, we were not in a position to make such an investment. Therefore, the search for a more cost effective alternative began. One that would save us some money to allow us investing in a website uptime monitoring tool, also known as downtime monitoring.
Why Do Websites Go Down?
Websites can become inaccessible for various reasons:
- Server Issues: The server hosting the site could stop working due to power failure in the datacenter, disk failure, network connectivity issues, among other reasons.
- Web Host Problems: The web host may encounter issues with their setup. This is often the case in a shared hosting environment.
- CMS Errors: An update to the content management system might ‘break’ things. Or a database error or an errant plugin in case of CMS like WordPress or Joomla.
There are a variety of reasons why your website can stop loading, or connecting. For example:
Lesson Learnt : Invest in Website Uptime Monitoring
Exploring Website Monitoring Tools and Services
Update: In addition to some of the active services mentioned in this post, I also use Screpy, a service that does much more than monitor uptime of your website.
Screpy website uptime monitoring and on page seo
In the quest for a cost-effective solution to monitor website uptime, I came across several tools. Here are some of the top ones:
Freshping
Freshping, offered by Freshdesk, allows you to set up a maximum of 50 alerts in its base (free) plan. Setting up the account is quite simple – enter your email Id, and name, and you’re good to go!
Hetrix Tools
Hetrix Tools is a mature and robust website monitoring tool. They had an offer for adding free additional monitors, which I found quite useful.
Uptime Robot
Uptime Robot is another popular tool for monitoring website uptime. It’s a freemium tool, meaning it offers both free and premium plans.
PHP Server Monitor
PHP Server Monitor is an open-source, self-hosted tool for monitoring website uptime. It’s a great option if you prefer to have more control over your monitoring tool.
Sentry.io
Sentry.io is an open-source tool that follows a freemium model. It’s a great option if you’re looking for a cost-effective solution.
Open Source Tools
Here are some open-source website uptime monitoring services that you may find useful for your needs:
- Upptime
- Description: GitHub-powered open-source uptime monitor and status page.
- Features: Monitor uptime every 5 minutes using GitHub Actions, get a sleek and beautiful status page, and receive notifications via Slack, Telegram, custom webhooks, and more.
- Source: Upptime
- StatusOK
- Description: Open-source, self-hosted solution to monitor website uptime and APIs.
- Features: Offers a range of monitoring checks, notification options via Slack, email, Mailgun, and HTTP EndPoint, and data storage in an InfluxDB database with long-term statistics visible via Grafana.
- Source: StatusOK
- Botnbot
- Description: Open-source uptime and front-end performance monitoring platform.
- Features: Monitor software errors, performance, and site uptime in one place, compatible with Sentry client SDK, and entirely open source.
Self-Hosted Uptime Monitoring Services
Explore self-hosted uptime monitoring services, including Cabot, PHP Server Monitor, Upptime, and Uptime Kuma, highlighting their features and benefits.
Tips for Selecting Monitoring Tools
When choosing a website monitoring tool, consider whether a free or paid tier suits your needs better. Also, consider whether a self-hosted or SaaS model is more suitable for your situation. In addition to the above services, there are several other sites that provide website monitoring. Some of these include Pingdom, Statuscake You can find about more them from one or more of the below links. You can read blog on uptime robot. Read more about website monitoring on Wikipedia.
Additional Resources About Website Monitoring
There are several other sites that provide website monitoring, such as Pingdom and Statuscake. You can learn more about them and other website monitoring tools from the resources listed at the end of this post. During my time using various website monitoring services, I have come to appreciate the importance of website uptime. Monitoring your website’s uptime is crucial for ensuring a seamless experience for visitors and customers. It helps in identifying issues quickly and taking corrective actions promptly.
One of the services I have used is Botnbot, an open-source platform that monitors software errors, performance, and site uptime all in one place. It is compatible with Sentry client SDK and entirely open source, making it a reliable choice for monitoring website
In conclusion, monitoring your website’s uptime is crucial for your business’s success. It ensures that your visitors have a seamless experience and helps you take timely corrective actions when your site is down.
Myth of the Best Website Monitoring Service
Before we wrap up, you might wonder which is the “best” website monitoring service. The answer is that there is no right or wrong answer. You can choose any of the tools or services mentioned in this post to monitor uptime of your website. Chances are, you will get a similar set of notifications and alerts. Some services are free, others follow the freemium model. For more people, the base plan of these services will serve the purpose.
Tip: You can also check whether a particular website is down or not usign third party sites. Practically every website in the world can be accessible via your web browser. Tools like host-tracker.com, Montastic, Updown.io, and isitdownforme allow you to check the uptime of sites without having to create an account or log in.
Changes from the original post
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- Removed discontinued services like Hexometer and Netumo
- Added new tools or services that have gained popularity since original post
- I have posted a bigger list (nearly 30 providers) on this post at LowEndSpirit site.
- ProductHunt has a long list of sites and apps that provide uptime monitoring.
- In December 2020, I had signed up for zilore.com by then, I had subscribed to 6 different uptime or website monitoring services. Therefore, I discontinued Zilore service By early next year two more were culled form the list- Bearmon and
Netumo.
