Monitoring37 of 41
Alerts and status page25 of 25
Team and trust12 of 18
Free plan and price7 of 16
uptime monitoring service · Better Stack
Better Stack Uptime
Uptime monitoring with 30-second checks, on-call alerts and status pages, sold per responder licence.
In short
- One Responder licence costs $29 a month billed yearly and includes 10 monitors and 10 heartbeats1.
- Checks run as often as every 30 seconds on paid plans; the free plan checks every 3 minutes1,2.
- Every extra 50 monitors cost $21 a month billed yearly1.
- The free plan has 10 monitors and heartbeats, 1 status page, and Slack and email alerts1.
- Better Stack says it is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant10.
Better Stack Uptime suits small teams that want fast checks, on-call scheduling and phone and SMS alerts in one product1. One licence includes unlimited phone and SMS alerts, Slack and Teams alerts, and one status page1. The catch: each person who needs Uptime access needs a paid licence, and more status pages and monitors cost extra1.
Best for: Small engineering teams that want monitoring, on-call and incident alerts in one tool.
Where the points come from
Monitoring 37 of 41 points
| Rule | What is published | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest check on the entry plan | 30Paid plans check as often as every 30 seconds; the free plan every 3 minutes1,2. | 10 / 10 |
| Check types | Ping, TCP port, DNS, Keyword or response checkPing, TCP/UDP port, DNS and keyword monitors are listed with no plan limit1,3. | 8 / 8 |
| Check locations | 4Probe IPs are listed for 4 regions: Asia, Australia, Europe and the US; no city count is given6. | 1 / 5 |
| SSL certificate expiry alerts | YesSSL certificate expiry alerts are built into monitors and need a paid plan5. | 5 / 5 |
| Cron job (heartbeat) monitoring | Yes10 heartbeats are included; they monitor cron jobs and scheduled tasks1,3. | 8 / 8 |
| Multi-step or browser checks | YesPlaywright browser monitors run sign-in style flows; billed at $1 per 100 minutes, not labelled beta1,4. | 5 / 5 |
Alerts and status page 25 of 25 points
| Rule | What is published | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Alert channels | SMS, Phone call, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Webhook, PagerDutyPhone, SMS, Slack, Teams and webhooks are listed under Uptime; PagerDuty is on the integrations page1,7. | 12 / 12 |
| Public status page | YesOne public status page is included1. | 6 / 6 |
| Status page on your own domain | YesA status page can use your own domain through a CNAME record8. | 3 / 3 |
| On-call schedules or escalation | YesOn-call scheduling and escalation policies are built in1,12. | 4 / 4 |
Team and trust 12 of 18 points
| Rule | What is published | Points |
|---|---|---|
| SAML single sign-on | YesOkta SAML sign-in is documented; Okta and Azure SSO cost $5 per user a month1,9. | 5 / 5 |
| SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 | YesThe security page says Better Stack is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant10. | 4 / 4 |
| Written uptime guarantee | Not publishedNot published on the vendor's terms page11. | 0 / 3 |
| Public API | YesA documented REST API manages monitors and is listed under Uptime1,13. | 3 / 3 |
| Three or more team members | NoUnlimited team members get telemetry only; Uptime access needs a $29 Responder licence each1. | 0 / 3 |
Free plan and price 7 of 16 points
| Rule | What is published | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Monitors on the free plan | 10The free plan includes 10 monitors and heartbeats1. | 4 / 6 |
| Entry plan price | $29/moOne Responder licence, $29 a month billed yearly, includes 10 monitors1. | 2 / 6 |
| Price with 50 monitors | $50/moResponder $29 plus one 50-monitor pack $21, billed yearly: 60 monitors, 30-second checks1,2. | 1 / 4 |
The rule behind each line: how we score uptime monitoring services.
Plans and prices
As the vendor lists them, before tax. Prices are in US dollars unless the plan shows euros; the points use US dollars, with euros converted at the ECB rate.
| Plan | Price as listed | Per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| FreePersonal projects | Free1,2 | $0 | 10 monitors and heartbeats, 1 status page, 3-minute checks |
| Responder1 licence | $29/month, billed yearly1 | $29 | 10 monitors, 10 heartbeats, 1 status page, 30-second checks; $34 billed monthly |
| Extra 50 monitorsAdd-on | $21/month, billed yearly1 | $21 | $25 billed monthly |
The $29 yearly price is per Responder licence; $34 if billed monthly1. Add-ons for monitors, heartbeats, status pages and browser-check minutes are priced separately1.
Strengths
- Paid plans check every 30 seconds1,2.
- Ping, TCP/UDP port, DNS, keyword, API, heartbeat and Playwright browser monitors are all documented3.
- Phone, SMS, Slack, Teams, webhook and PagerDuty alerts are all listed1,7.
- On-call scheduling and escalation rules are built in1,12.
- SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and Okta SAML sign-in are listed9,10.
Limits
- Each person with Uptime access needs a $29 Responder licence; free team members get telemetry only1.
- Okta and Azure sign-in cost $5 per user a month extra1.
- Browser (Playwright) checks are billed at $1 per 100 minutes1.
- A second public status page costs $12 a month billed yearly1.
- The terms give no uptime percentage for the service itself11.
What Better Stack says
Vendor claims. We show them, but they earn no points.
- Better Stack says it runs regular penetration tests through third-party testers10.
Other uptime monitoring services
- 1
HyperpingSmall teams that want checks, alerts and a status page in one plan89/100$24.17/moentry plan price - 3
NodePingTeams that need many monitors and check types at a flat monthly price68/100$25/moentry plan price - 4
Oh DearAgencies and teams that watch many client sites68/100$45.83/moentry plan price - 5
HetrixToolsSmall teams that want many monitors and phone or SMS alerts at a low price66/100$8.33/moentry plan price
Better Stack Uptime vs Hyperping · Better Stack Uptime vs NodePing · All 10 uptime monitoring services
Sources
- Pricing, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Check frequency, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Uptime monitor (monitor types), Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Playwright monitor, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- SSL certificate monitor, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Frequently asked questions, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Integrations, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Custom domain for status pages, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Okta SAML setup instructions, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Security, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Terms of service, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Escalation policies, Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
- Create a monitor (Uptime API), Better Stack. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Website: betterstack.com · Markdown version · We are not affiliated with Better Stack.