UptimeX vs Uptime Kuma
Uptime Kuma is the open-source favourite: free, self-hosted, a Docker container you run yourself, with checks every twenty seconds and a notification list that covers almost everything. UptimeX is the hosted version of that idea, with a native app that gets the push, a slow state with a latency breakdown, and no server to keep alive.
What’s the difference between UptimeX and Uptime Kuma?
Uptime Kuma is software you run. UptimeX is a service you use.
Everything follows from that. Uptime Kuma costs nothing to license and gives you full control, and in exchange you provide the server, the updates, the backups, and an answer to the question of who monitors the monitor. UptimeX runs the checks from its own infrastructure, so an outage of your network or host does not take the monitoring down with it, and the effort goes into each check instead: three states, a connect versus time-to-first-byte split, a re-check before every alert, and a push to your phone.
UptimeX vs Uptime Kuma at a glance
Hosting is the real difference. The checks themselves are closer than you would expect.
Free plan with 5 monitors; Pro $7 a month for 30
Free and open source; you pay for the server it runs on
UptimeX's infrastructure, independent of the systems it watches
Your server or container, so it shares fate with your network and host
1 minute on Pro and Team
20 seconds
HTTP, keyword, API, DNS, TCP port, heartbeat, scheduler
HTTP, keyword, JSON query, ping, TCP port, DNS, Docker container, push heartbeat, gRPC, MQTT, databases, game servers
Native push first, plus Slack, Discord and webhooks on every plan; email on Pro and Team
Dozens of notification services, including Telegram, Discord, Slack, email, Pushover, Gotify and webhooks
Up, slow or down, with connect time and time to first byte split on every check
Up or down, with response time and a certificate expiry countdown
None
Updates, backups of the SQLite database, host uptime, and monitoring the monitor
Included, with incidents and maintenance windows
Included, served from the same instance
Native app with push, same account on the web
Web dashboard; mobile via the browser or community apps
Compare your setup across providers
Pick how many monitors you run and see the monthly list price side by side at 1-minute checks. No sales call, and no add-ons hidden in the number.
Each provider is priced at the cheapest published plan that covers this many monitors at 1-minute checks. Free tiers run slower and are left out.
- UptimeX$7/moPro covers 30 monitors, Team 50; the free plan checks every 5 minutes
- URUptimeRobot$10/mo1.4×SMS and voice alerts are credits on top; the free plan checks every 5 minutes
- Better Stack$25/mo3.6×monitors come in blocks of 50; phone and SMS on-call needs a $34 Responder seat
- Pingdom$18/mo2.6×bundles of uptime checks with SMS included; no free plan
- Uptime Kumathis page≈$5/mo71%the software is free; the figure is a small VPS to run it on, before your time to update and back it up
Public list prices with monthly billing, read in November 2026; SMS, phone calls and extra seats are excluded. Check each provider's pricing page before deciding, and ours.
Common questions
Cost and hosting
The software is. A small VPS to run it on is usually a few dollars a month, and the time to update it, back up its database and keep the host online is the real cost. UptimeX's free plan is five monitors with no server, and Pro is $7 a month for thirty.
With Uptime Kuma, that is your problem to solve, typically with a second instance or an external ping. UptimeX runs on its own infrastructure, so your host going down is exactly the kind of thing it reports rather than the thing that silences it.
Switching
Yes, and that is a sensible split. Uptime Kuma can see hosts on your private network that a hosted monitor cannot reach. Use UptimeX for everything public and for the heartbeat that tells you the Uptime Kuma host is alive.
Push, Slack, Discord and webhooks are on every UptimeX plan, so the usual channels carry over. Email alerts are on Pro and Team. Niche integrations from Uptime Kuma's long list are not matched one for one; a webhook usually bridges the gap.
Capabilities and fit
A slow state between up and down, a connect versus time-to-first-byte split on every check, a re-check before an alert, and a native app where the push is the alert. Uptime Kuma reports up, down and response time.
Reaching private networks, 20-second checks, an unusually long list of monitor types and notification services, and full control of the data on your own disk. If you want to own the whole stack, Uptime Kuma is the better fit.
Which one is right for you?
Choose UptimeX if…
- You do not want to run and update a server to watch your servers
- The monitor should keep working when your host or network goes down
- The alert should be a native push on your phone
- You need to know whether a slowdown was the network or your server
- You want heartbeats and scheduled jobs next to HTTP checks
Choose Uptime Kuma if…
- You need to monitor hosts on a private network
- Full control of the data and the software is the priority
- You want 20-second checks and a very long integration list for free
Switching from Uptime Kuma without a gap in coverage
Keep Uptime Kuma for anything internal. Add the public endpoints to UptimeX, give UptimeX a heartbeat from the Uptime Kuma host, and compare incidents for a week.
- 1Add your public URLs and heartbeats to UptimeX. The free plan covers five, Pro covers thirty.
- 2Point a Slack, Discord or webhook channel where Uptime Kuma already posts, and install the app for push.
- 3Create a heartbeat monitor for the Uptime Kuma host itself, then retire the public checks on the old instance.
See how UptimeX compares across the lineup
The same comparison for the other monitors people usually shortlist.