How this calculator works
Uptime and synthetic monitoring vendors do not all bill on the same unit. UptimeRobot ties price to check-interval speed: each plan tier bundles a monitor cap with a fixed check frequency, so you upgrade to check faster even if your monitor count barely changes. Better Stack charges a flat per-seat "Responder license" that includes 10 monitors at up to 30-second checks, then sells extra capacity in blocks of 50 monitors — so 11 monitors costs the same as 60. Checkly bundles uptime monitors together with a pool of API and browser (synthetic) check runs in the same plan, so its price also buys a form of testing the other two don't offer. This calculator applies each vendor's published self-service tier rules to the monitor count you enter so you can compare the effective monthly bill side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Why do UptimeRobot, Better Stack and Checkly cost such different amounts for the same monitor count?
Each vendor bills on a different unit. UptimeRobot prices by check-interval speed tier (Solo=60s, Team=30s, Scale=15s) with a monitor cap attached to each tier, so you pay more to check faster, not just to check more things. Better Stack sells a flat Responder license (includes 10 monitors) plus extra monitors in blocks of 50 — so adding 1 monitor past your block boundary costs the same as adding 50. Checkly bundles uptime monitors together with a pool of API and browser check runs, so its per-monitor price also buys synthetic/API testing the other two don't offer at all.
Is UptimeRobot's free tier actually usable in production?
UptimeRobot's free plan gives 50 monitors at a 5-minute check interval with no credit card required, which is fine for side projects but too slow to catch short outages on a paying product — a 4-minute blip can go undetected. Checkly's free Hobby tier (10 uptime monitors, 1,000 browser + 10,000 API check runs/month) and Better Stack's free tier (10 monitors, up to 30-second checks) are the more production-realistic free options if you need sub-minute detection without paying.
Which vendor is cheapest for a small number of fast-interval monitors?
For roughly 10-30 monitors needing sub-minute checks, Checkly's Starter plan ($24/month billed annually, 50 uptime monitors + 25,000 API check runs + 3,000 browser check runs included) is usually the cheapest self-serve option, and it throws in synthetic API/browser testing for free. Better Stack is next (Responder license plus monitor blocks), and UptimeRobot is often priciest at this range because its Team tier ($35-41/month) is required just to unlock a 30-second interval, even if you only need 15-20 monitors.