Updown.io is a website monitor with no subscription: you buy credits and pay only for the checks you run. It's for founders who want reliable checks and SSL and domain alerts without a monthly plan. One credit pays for one check. Packs start at €5 for 200,000 credits, excluding VAT. As Updown.io's own example, 10 websites checked every 2 minutes cost between about €1.83 and €5.49 a month, depending on the pack size. New accounts get 100,000 free trial credits.
What it can do for you
You choose how often each site is checked, from every 15 seconds to every hour. It covers HTTP(S), TCP(S) and ICMP, can look for a keyword on a page, and watches cron jobs: your job pings Updown.io each time it runs, and you're told if it stops. Outages are confirmed from at least two locations before you're alerted.
You also get alerts for invalid or expiring SSL certificates and for domains about to expire. Alerts go by email, webhook, Slack, Teams, Telegram, Zapier or text, and there are hosted status pages. Mobile apps aren't named, but you can watch an app's backend through its API or a heartbeat.
The honest downsides
- No free plan. After the trial credits run out, you pay for every check.
- Text alerts cost credits. Each one is 7,500 credits, about €0.10.
- Costs rise with frequency. Checking more often uses credits faster.
Skip it if
- you want monitoring that's free for good
- you'd rather have a fixed monthly bill than keep credits topped up
Alternatives
- Better pick for free SSL and domain alerts: HetrixTools. It's free for 15 sites at 1-minute checks, with SSL, domain and nameserver alerts. The catch: you must log in every 90 days.
- UptimeRobot covers 50 monitors free at 5-minute checks, without SSL or domain alerts.
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