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Build a Free Infrastructure Monitoring Stack with Exit1.dev

2 min read
September 16, 2025
Morten PradsgaardBy Morten Pradsgaard

Design a no-budget server monitoring stack that still gives full observability. Exit1.dev plus proven open-source tools.

Free Uptime Monitor

Unlimited monitors, 1-minute checks, and the blunt breakdown of why the legacy tools feel slow. See the feature deep dive and migration checklist.

Analytics & Reports

Turn uptime data into SLAs, client reports, and long-term performance trends without bolting on another BI tool.

Smart Alerting

Ship webhook and email alerts that your team actually respects. Integrate PagerDuty, Opsgenie, Slack, or Discord without paying a premium.

Build a Free Infrastructure Monitoring Stack that Doesn't Suck

You do not need Datadog invoices to keep infrastructure honest. Pair Exit1.dev with a few lean open-source tools and you have real coverage without the burn.

Core Monitoring Loop

  1. Exit1.dev uptime monitors hit every server-facing endpoint every minute. That is your heartbeat.
  2. Prometheus node exporters feed system metrics into a local store. Snapshot critical metrics and send webhooks to Exit1.dev for threshold breaches.
  3. Grafana dashboards stitch the story together for humans. Embed Exit1.dev status widgets right in those dashboards.

Alert Routing Without Noise

Hook the monitors into the channels where ops lives:

Server Coverage Checklist

Cover every tier with a free sensor:

  • HTTP checks for APIs, CDNs, web apps.
  • TCP checks for databases and queues using simple netcat scripts wrapped in Exit1.dev custom monitors.
  • Cron monitors for nightly jobs, using the cron job monitoring blueprint.

Infrastructure Change Audits

Every deploy should update monitors. Pipe your CI/CD into Exit1.dev via webhooks so new services immediately register for uptime checks. Pair this with infrastructure-as-code tagging, then expose environment metadata in your website monitoring best practices review.

Incident Feedback Loop

When things blow up, log it:

  • Use Exit1.dev incident timelines to capture the raw timeline.
  • Publish a transparent recap using the postmortem templates.
  • Feed lessons back into Terraform or Ansible so the fix survives the next deploy.

Why Exit1.dev Wins for Free Infrastructure Monitoring

  • Unlimited checks, one-minute intervals, no card.
  • Infrastructure tags match the same taxonomy as your free uptime monitor checklist.
  • Dead simple onboarding for agencies and MSPs who need server monitoring yesterday.

Stop buying shelfware. Ship this stack, own your infrastructure, and keep the cash for things that actually differentiate your product.

Morten Pradsgaard is the founder of exit1.dev — the free uptime monitor for people who actually ship. He writes no-bullshit guides on monitoring, reliability, and building software that doesn't crumble under pressure.