8 Best Free Website Uptime Monitors for Small Sites

UptimeRobot Free includes 50 monitors with five-minute checks, three months of data retention, and one basic hosted status page. That's enough room to watch several client sites or a collection of important URLs without running a monitoring application yourself.

I'd rank it first for an owner who needs a straightforward URL check and email alert. A normal website can use an HTTP(s) monitor; a more specific check can look for page content. The dashboard gives the owner a place to review incidents and response times without needing to maintain the monitoring server.

UptimeRobot reviews include a June 2026 report from a library service that found Free sufficient for its initial monitoring. I'd make the same narrow call for a first setup, then compare the alert workflow before expanding it.

The weakness is the free plan's speed and integration range. Five-minute checks can miss a brief failure, and its five included integrations don't cover every team's alert workflow. Decide how the alert will reach a person before assuming the free plan is enough.

Current terms allow commercial use. Older advice restricting Free to noncommercial projects is no longer the right rule. Solo costs $12/month billed annually, or $13 month-to-month; faster checks and additional features depend on the tier.

Pick it if you want many hosted URL checks with little setup. Skip it if a five-minute interval or the free notification choices are too limited for your response process.

Uptime Kuma is free, open-source software with a web dashboard. It supports HTTP, TCP, keyword, DNS, push, and other monitor types, plus many notification services. There is no vendor subscription limiting how many checks you create.

I'd choose it for a technically capable owner who wants to monitor both public URLs and services reachable from their own network. That can be valuable for a local application, internal endpoint, or server service that a public hosted monitor can't access directly.

The weakness is the location of the monitor itself. If it runs on the same server as the website, a whole-server failure can stop both the site and the checks. Put the monitor somewhere that can still observe the failure you care about. A machine at home can also lose its own internet connection and create a different blind spot.

The software is free under the MIT license, while hosting, updates, storage, and backup work belong to you. The project is active in 2026. Our UptimeRobot vs Uptime Kuma comparison covers the operational differences and upgrade details.

Pick it if you can run the application and need flexible checks. Skip it if nobody will maintain the monitor or its host can fail alongside the website.

Better Stack's free plan combines uptime monitoring with allowances for related telemetry products. The uptime portion includes ten monitors and heartbeats, one status page, and email and Slack alerts. The uptime product and check-frequency documentation document three-minute free checks.

I'd choose it for a developer already thinking about incidents, logs, and application errors. One account can be easier to work with when a website outage needs investigation beyond the first alert. A heartbeat can also watch whether a scheduled job has checked in, which is a different task from loading a home page.

The catch is the ten-monitor allowance and the limits on the surrounding products. A free telemetry bundle doesn't mean unlimited log storage, recordings, or advanced routing. Start with the services that matter and check each enabled product's allowance.

Paid entry is listed at $29/month billed annually, or $34 month-to-month. I'd compare it with the team's incident process, especially if several people need to receive and own an alert. For one personal page, the broader account may be more system than you need.

Pick it if monitoring belongs beside other operational tools. Skip it if your whole requirement is a small list of URLs and an occasional email.

StatusCake Free allows ten uptime monitors with five-minute intervals. It also includes one page-speed monitor, one domain monitor, and one SSL monitor, each with its own checking interval.

I'd choose it for a small site portfolio where remembering certificate and domain checks is part of the job. Uptime, expiry, and performance are related concerns but need different monitoring. A page can load while its certificate is approaching expiry, so a separate warning can prevent a later outage.

The limitation is the small allowance for those extras. One SSL monitor doesn't cover every certificate in a ten-site portfolio. The free page-speed check samples a page periodically. It can't show every visitor's experience.

Paid Superior and Business plans expand the counts and frequency. The official page varies currency by region, so use its current paid plan quote when budgeting. I'd compare the complete set of checks you need instead of choosing from the uptime count alone.

Pick it if a few extra expiry and speed checks make a small portfolio easier to watch. Skip it if every site needs those extras or you require frequent free uptime checks.

HetrixTools Free includes 15 uptime monitors and one-minute checks from four available locations. That's its strongest reason to make this list: a tighter free interval than most hosted alternatives here.

The catch is an account-maintenance rule. Free users must sign in at least once every 90 days. I'd put that reminder into the same calendar used to review monitoring, because a monitor that is installed and then ignored can become a poor safety net.

The service also covers status pages, maintenance mode, outage diagnostics, and expiry-related checks. Those features can help explain whether a failure was expected maintenance or something to investigate. SMS and phone alerts use credits, and multiple email recipients are a paid feature.

Professional costs $9.95/month or $99.95/year. It increases monitor counts and removes the free login condition. I'd choose the free tier for an owner who will actually review the account regularly, then assess paid service when the alert recipients or portfolio grow.

Pick it if one-minute free checks matter and you'll keep the account active. Skip it if you expect to leave the service untouched for long periods.

DownNotifier Free watches five websites at ten-minute intervals, with email alerts. SMS requires credits. That is the slowest free interval in this shortlist, so I'd reserve it for low-stakes websites where simplicity is the main goal.

For a personal portfolio or a few small project pages, a plain alert can be enough to prompt a check. The owner doesn't necessarily need an incident-management account or a dashboard full of telemetry. The account questions explain the service's basic setup and plan behavior.

The weakness is the delay between checks. A ten-minute interval leaves more room for a short outage to pass unnoticed. I'd choose a faster option for a revenue-critical checkout or an application where someone is expected to react promptly.

Premium costs $14.95/year, covering ten websites and one-minute checks with more reporting and contacts. That makes the paid step worth comparing if the free interval is your only objection. More websites carry additional charges.

Pick it if five low-stakes sites and email alerts cover the job. Skip it if the website needs quick incident detection or a team response process.

Site24x7's linked free offer lists five websites with one-minute checks from up to three locations. I'd consider it for a small URL watchlist, especially when the owner already knows the wider Site24x7 platform.

Other Site24x7 pages advertise a different free allowance. Check the offer attached to your signup before planning the portfolio; the numbers here follow the linked five-website offer.

The five-site cap is the practical weakness beside UptimeRobot's larger count. Several monitoring locations can help distinguish a regional failure, but they still don't prove that every customer's route to the website works. Match geographic coverage with the audience you serve.

Paid plans expand the monitoring job and alert options. Site24x7 is part of ManageEngine/Zoho, and its broader platform covers more than this free website offer. I'd choose the free product for basic URL watching, then compare the precise paid tier when other checks become necessary.

Pick it if five websites and the linked one-minute offer cover your setup. Skip it if you need a large free portfolio allowance or richer incident routing.

Pulsetic Free includes ten monitors, five-minute checks, three status pages, and three months of history. I'd choose it when a few public status pages are part of the requirement, rather than an afterthought attached to monitoring.

A small agency might want separate pages for different client services. That can make incident communication clearer than mixing every project into one public feed. The free pages use the service's arrangement; custom-domain and team features need a closer look at paid plans.

The weakness is the familiar free trade-off: a five-minute interval, a small monitor count, and limited alert and teammate options. A status page also needs a communication process. An automatic red indicator doesn't explain a cause or tell customers when you expect another update.

Solo costs $9/month or $90/year. Team and Organization expand the setup, with add-ons for some usage and alert features. I'd calculate the monitors, teammates, and notification channels together before choosing an upgrade.

Pick it if a small portfolio needs several hosted status pages. Skip it if your priority is the fastest free checks or a large shared response team.