hostnag vs UptimeRobot

UptimeRobot is a fast, well-established way to get HTTP, port, keyword, ICMP ping and heartbeat monitoring running in minutes, with a generous free tier, a mobile app and a public API. One timeline of what will break (certificates, domains, mail setup) and what is broken, with a failure confirmed from a second location before anyone is paged.

Start free See pricing

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

Side by side

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

What breaks, and whether UptimeRobot or hostnag covers it
What breaks	UptimeRobot	hostnag
A host goes downwebsite, API, VPN, mail, gateway	Yes	Yes
A certificate expiresdays-before thresholds, daily inside the last window	YesSSL expiry alerts with configurable thresholds; combined with domain expiry on the same monitor.	Yes
UptimeRobot: SSL expiry alerts with configurable thresholds; combined with domain expiry on the same monitor.
A domain lapsesregistration expiry from RDAP	YesThe pricing page lists "SSL & Domain expiration" and the SSL monitoring page advertises "SSL and domain expiry alerts".	Yes
UptimeRobot: The pricing page lists "SSL & Domain expiration" and the SSL monitoring page advertises "SSL and domain expiry alerts".
A certificate is swappedfingerprint changed, wrong host, chain not trusted	UnknownThe help article describes an SSL error as expired, invalid or misconfigured, without stating whether a fingerprint, hostname or chain change is detected.	Yes
UptimeRobot: The help article describes an SSL error as expired, invalid or misconfigured, without stating whether a fingerprint, hostname or chain change is detected.
A DNS record driftsexpected answer missing or changed	YesDNS monitoring compares records against the expected values you configure and alerts when a record is modified, added or deleted.	Yes
UptimeRobot: DNS monitoring compares records against the expected values you configure and alerts when a record is modified, added or deleted.
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 is documented for an office or ISP link.	Yesoutside and inside
UptimeRobot: No combined outside-check-plus-inside-confirmation monitor is documented for an office or ISP link.hostnag: outside and inside
Mail stops being deliveredMX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and blocklists, at the expiry cadence of your plan	NoUptimeRobot's own writeup says SMTP monitoring checks only server availability, not spam filtering or inbox delivery; there is no SPF, DKIM, DMARC or blocklist check.	Yes
UptimeRobot: UptimeRobot's own writeup says SMTP monitoring checks only server availability, not spam filtering or inbox delivery; 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
UptimeRobot: No certificate transparency log watch is documented among the monitor types.
A scheduled job stops runningcron, backups, workers: a heartbeat that goes quiet	YesCron-job (heartbeat) monitoring expects a periodic ping and marks the job down if it stops arriving on time.	Yes
UptimeRobot: Cron-job (heartbeat) monitoring expects a periodic ping and marks the job down if it stops arriving on time.
Your nameservers or registrar changenameservers, registrar, DNSSEC, certificate issuer, DNS answers, redirect targets	PartlyDNS monitoring tracks NS record changes and DNSSEC (DS, DNSKEY) records, but nothing documents a registrar change, certificate issuer change or redirect-target drift.	Yes
UptimeRobot: DNS monitoring tracks NS record changes and DNSSEC (DS, DNSKEY) records, but nothing documents a registrar change, certificate issuer change or redirect-target drift.

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 UptimeRobot has that we don't

A mobile app (iOS and Android) with push notifications and a status widget.
ICMP ping monitoring, not just a TCP port check.
A public REST API (v3) for managing monitors, status pages and maintenance windows.
Screenshot-based website change monitoring that alerts on a visual difference.

Switching

01Paste a read-only UptimeRobot API key (Settings, API Settings) in the import dialog; it is used once to fetch monitors and never stored.
02HTTP, keyword and port monitors carry over with their type, target and keyword mode.
03Heartbeat (cron-job) monitors get a new hostnag ping URL to point the job at after the import.
04Ping (ICMP) monitors are not supported since hostnag runs no collector on your network; each is 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

A free tier covers 50 monitors on a 5-minute interval; paid plans start at $12 a month (Solo, billed yearly) for 60-second checks, rising to $79 a month (Scale) and custom Enterprise pricing.

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 UptimeRobot monitors. Hear about the next outage first.

Start free