hostnag vs Pingdom

Pingdom is a long-established uptime monitor that adds real user monitoring and page-speed tracking for teams that already watch performance alongside availability. One timeline of what will break (certificates, domains, mail setup) and what is broken, not only page speed and availability.

Start free See pricing

Free for five hosts. No card, nothing to install.

Side by side

Pingdom read from its public documentation on 2026-09-15. Tell us if it changed.

What breaks, and whether Pingdom or hostnag covers it
What breaks	Pingdom	hostnag
A host goes downwebsite, API, VPN, mail, gateway	Yes	Yes
A certificate expiresdays-before thresholds, daily inside the last window	YesEnabling HTTPS on an uptime check turns on certificate error and expiry alerts, with a configurable advance-notice window.	Yes
Pingdom: Enabling HTTPS on an uptime check turns on certificate error and expiry alerts, with a configurable advance-notice window.
A domain lapsesregistration expiry from RDAP	UnknownThe SSL monitoring page covers certificate expiry only and does not mention domain (WHOIS) registration expiry anywhere.	Yes
Pingdom: The SSL monitoring page covers certificate expiry only and does not mention domain (WHOIS) registration expiry anywhere.
A certificate is swappedfingerprint changed, wrong host, chain not trusted	UnknownThe SSL monitoring page documents expiry and certificate errors broadly, without stating whether a fingerprint, hostname or chain change is detected.	Yes
Pingdom: The SSL monitoring page documents expiry and certificate errors broadly, without stating whether a fingerprint, hostname or chain change is detected.
A DNS record driftsexpected answer missing or changed	UnknownThe check-types documentation describes the DNS check as making sure a DNS server is working; it does not document comparing a record against an expected value.	Yes
Pingdom: The check-types documentation describes the DNS check as making sure a DNS server is working; it does not document comparing a record against an expected value.
An ISP link dropsthe public address from several locations, confirmed by a ping from inside the site	UnknownNo combined outside-check-plus-inside-confirmation monitor for an office or ISP link is documented.	Yesoutside and inside
Pingdom: No combined outside-check-plus-inside-confirmation monitor for an office or ISP link is documented.hostnag: outside and inside
Mail stops being deliveredMX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and blocklists, at the expiry cadence of your plan	NoThe check-types documentation says SMTP, POP3(S) and IMAP(S) checks "do not actually send test emails but really just verify that the email server responds"; there is no SPF, DKIM, DMARC or blocklist check.	Yes
Pingdom: The check-types documentation says SMTP, POP3(S) and IMAP(S) checks "do not actually send test emails but really just verify that the email server responds"; there is no SPF, DKIM, DMARC or blocklist check.
Someone issues a certificate for your domainnew certificates in the transparency logs, daily	UnknownNo certificate transparency log watch is documented among the monitor types.	Yes
Pingdom: No certificate transparency log watch is documented among the monitor types.
A scheduled job stops runningcron, backups, workers: a heartbeat that goes quiet	UnknownThe check-types documentation lists HTTP(S), HTTP Custom, Ping, TCP, UDP, DNS and mail-protocol checks; it does not document a push or heartbeat check for scheduled jobs.	Yes
Pingdom: The check-types documentation lists HTTP(S), HTTP Custom, Ping, TCP, UDP, DNS and mail-protocol checks; it does not document a push or heartbeat check for scheduled jobs.
Your nameservers or registrar changenameservers, registrar, DNSSEC, certificate issuer, DNS answers, redirect targets	UnknownNo nameserver, registrar, DNSSEC or redirect-target change tracking is documented among the monitor types.	Yes
Pingdom: No nameserver, registrar, DNSSEC or redirect-target change tracking is documented among the monitor types.

UNKNOWN means their documentation did not say either way on the day we read it. PARTLY is covered with a limit noted in the cell.

What Pingdom has that we don't

iOS and Android mobile apps with push notifications and root-cause analysis.
A public REST API for reading check status and building graphs.
ICMP ping and UDP checks, not just a TCP port check.
Real user monitoring (page views, load performance) alongside synthetic checks.

Switching

01Paste a Pingdom API token (My Account, Pingdom API) in the import dialog; it is used once and never stored.
02HTTP checks (with their contains or does-not-contain string) carry over as http monitors; TCP and DNS checks carry over with their port and target.
03SMTP, POP3 and IMAP checks become TCP port monitors on the mail protocol's default port.
04Ping (ICMP) checks are not supported and are listed with a note to watch the port instead or use a link monitor.
05Check intervals snap up to the nearest hostnag preset (1, 5, 15, 60, 360 or 1440 minutes).
06Monitors are created up to your plan's limit; the rest stay listed in the preview so nothing is lost silently.

Pricing

Pricing is usage-based on a subscription calculator (number of uptime checks and real-user-monitoring page views) with no published flat tiers; a free trial is offered, but there is no free tier.

Free

$0/ mo

For your own handful of hosts.

Monitors: 5
Groups: 1
Status pages: 1
Seats: 1
Every: 5min
Locations: 1
History: 30days
Channels: Email

Start free

Pro

$19/ mo

For a team's sites, APIs and gateways.

Monitors: 50
Groups: 10
Status pages: 10
Seats: 5
Every: 1min
Locations: 3
History: 90days
Channels: Email, Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Webhook

Start with Pro

Business

$79/ mo

For many groups: clients, products or offices.

Monitors: 500
Groups: ∞
Status pages: ∞
Seats: 25
Every: 1min
Locations: 4
History: 365days
Channels: Email, Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Webhook, SMS, PagerDuty, Opsgenie

Start with Business

Sources

Read on 2026-09-15.

Bring your Pingdom monitors. Hear about the next outage first.

Start free