The price anchor
| Upwatch | UptimeRobot | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 — no subscription | $8/mo |
| Annual | $0 after purchase | $96 |
| 5-year total | $99 | $480 |
| 10-year total | $99 | $960 |
Subscription figures from the vendor's published pricing ($8/mo, ~$96/yr); the Upwatch column is the full price, paid once.
Break-even analysis
Pays for itself vs UptimeRobot in about a year — then it's free forever.
- After 1 year: Upwatch has cost you $99 total — UptimeRobot has cost $96.
- After 3 years: Upwatch is still $99 — the subscription is at $288.
- After 5 years: Upwatch is still $99 — the subscription is at $480.
What you get for $99 once
- HTTP(S) monitors. URL, interval from 30s to 15m, expected status code, optional keyword match.
- In-process checker loop. No cron, no workers, no Redis — one Node process does everything.
- SQLite storage. Check history with automatic 90-day retention pruning. One file to back up.
- Per-monitor detail. Uptime % for 24h / 7d / 30d, response-time sparkline, full incident log.
- Public status page. Clean branded page at /status — per-monitor badges, classic 90-day uptime bars, outage banner.
- No renewal, ever. The license does not expire and there is no per-seat meter — $99 is the whole price.
Pricing questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/uptime-monitor-mvp, always. The paid version is pure convenience: packaged installer, updates, priority support.
Do I need a server?
Not necessarily. Desktop mode runs the whole app in an Electron window. For a public status page or 24/7 monitoring you'll want a $5 VPS — which is still cheaper per year than one month of most competitors' higher tiers.
What check types are supported?
HTTP(S) with status-code and keyword assertions. No ping/port/DNS checks yet — if you need those today, UptimeRobot still has the broader check menu.
Where does monitoring run from?
From wherever you host it — one location. Cloud services check from multiple regions; that's their genuine advantage. For "is my site up and is checkout on the page", one good vantage point covers it.
Upwatch — $99, one time
Or get Upwatch plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.