Upptime vs Uptime Kuma: Status Page Comparison
Quick Verdict
Uptime Kuma is the better monitoring tool for most self-hosters — beautiful dashboard, 90+ notification types, and 1-minute monitoring intervals. Upptime is the better choice if you want zero infrastructure overhead and a clean public status page powered entirely by GitHub. Pick Uptime Kuma if you want a real-time monitoring dashboard. Pick Upptime if you want to avoid running another server.
Overview
Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted monitoring tool with one of the best-looking dashboards in the self-hosting ecosystem. It monitors HTTP(S), TCP, DNS, Docker containers, ping, MQTT, and more, with alerts through 90+ notification providers. Runs as a single Docker container.
Upptime is a serverless monitoring solution that runs entirely on GitHub. GitHub Actions checks your endpoints, GitHub Issues tracks incidents, and GitHub Pages hosts the status page. No server, no container, no database — just a GitHub repository.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Upptime | Uptime Kuma |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | None (GitHub) | Docker container |
| Cost | Free | Free (self-hosted) |
| Setup time | 5 minutes | 10 minutes |
| Web dashboard | Static (GitHub Pages) | Real-time web UI |
| Monitoring frequency | 5 min minimum | 1 min (configurable) |
| HTTP monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| TCP monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| DNS monitoring | No | Yes |
| Docker monitoring | No | Yes |
| Ping (ICMP) | No | Yes |
| MQTT monitoring | No | Yes |
| Steam game server | No | Yes |
| Notification types | ~3 (Slack, Discord, email) | 90+ |
| Status page | GitHub Pages (static) | Built-in (dynamic) |
| Multi-status pages | One per repo | Multiple per instance |
| Incident management | GitHub Issues | Manual status page |
| Response time graphs | Yes (auto-generated) | Yes (real-time) |
| Certificate monitoring | No | Yes |
| Maintenance windows | No | Yes |
| Group monitors | No | Yes (tags, groups) |
| Authentication | GitHub | Username/password, 2FA |
| API | GitHub API | REST API |
| Mobile app | No | No (responsive web) |
Dashboard Experience
This is where Uptime Kuma shines. Its dashboard is genuinely beautiful — real-time status indicators, response time charts, uptime percentages, and a clean layout that makes monitoring enjoyable. You can create multiple status pages, group monitors with tags, and customize the look. It updates in real-time via WebSocket.
Upptime’s status page is a static HTML site hosted on GitHub Pages. It looks professional and loads fast, but it only updates when GitHub Actions runs (every 5 minutes at best). There’s no interactive dashboard — it’s a read-only page that shows uptime history and response time graphs generated as SVG charts.
If you need a glanceable dashboard on a monitor in your office, Uptime Kuma wins decisively.
Notification Depth
Uptime Kuma supports 90+ notification methods including Slack, Discord, Telegram, PagerDuty, Gotify, ntfy, Pushover, Microsoft Teams, Pushbullet, email (SMTP), Apprise, and dozens more. You can configure different notifications per monitor.
Upptime supports Slack, Discord, and email — that’s essentially it. Notifications are configured through GitHub Actions integrations, which limits options.
Monitoring Internal Services
Uptime Kuma can monitor anything reachable from its Docker container — internal network services, Docker containers (via Docker socket), local IPs, and private DNS. This makes it ideal for homelab monitoring where most services aren’t publicly accessible.
Upptime can only monitor URLs reachable from GitHub Actions runners — public internet only. Private services, local network devices, and internal APIs are invisible to Upptime.
Use Cases
Choose Upptime If…
- You don’t want to run another server or container
- You only monitor public-facing websites and APIs
- You want a clean public status page for free
- 5-minute monitoring intervals are acceptable
- You want incident history in GitHub Issues
- You prefer zero-maintenance infrastructure
Choose Uptime Kuma If…
- You want a beautiful real-time dashboard
- You need 90+ notification options
- You monitor internal/private services
- You need 1-minute or faster monitoring intervals
- You want Docker container monitoring
- You need multiple status pages
- You want certificate expiry monitoring
- You need maintenance window announcements
Final Verdict
Uptime Kuma for most self-hosters. The dashboard is best-in-class, 90+ notification types cover every platform, and monitoring internal services is essential for homelabs. It’s a single Docker container that takes 10 minutes to set up.
Upptime wins in exactly one scenario: you want monitoring and a status page with literally zero infrastructure. No server, no Docker, no maintenance. If you’re monitoring 3-5 public websites and just want to know when they go down, Upptime does it for free with no moving parts on your end.
For more advanced monitoring with YAML configuration and condition-based checks, see Gatus. For enterprise-grade infrastructure monitoring with SNMP, agent-based collection, and auto-discovery, see Zabbix.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Upptime cost anything to run?
No. Upptime runs entirely on GitHub Actions and GitHub Pages, which are free for public repositories. You need zero servers, zero Docker, zero hosting costs. Private repos also work but use your GitHub Actions minutes allocation.
Can Uptime Kuma generate a public status page like Upptime?
Yes. Uptime Kuma has a built-in status page feature. You can configure which monitors appear on the public page, customize the title and description, and share the URL with users. It’s not as polished as Upptime’s static site, but it works well.
Can Upptime monitor internal/private services?
Only if they are accessible from GitHub’s IP ranges. Since Upptime runs on GitHub Actions, it can only reach publicly accessible endpoints. For monitoring internal Docker services, homelab servers, or VPN-only services, you need Uptime Kuma or a similar self-hosted tool.
How often does Upptime check monitors?
Every 5 minutes by default (configurable in the GitHub Actions workflow). Uptime Kuma supports intervals down to 20 seconds.
Can I use Upptime and Uptime Kuma together?
Yes. A common setup is Uptime Kuma for internal monitoring (homelab services, Docker containers) and Upptime for a public-facing status page of your external services. This way you get the best of both — deep internal monitoring and a zero-maintenance public status page.
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