Uptime Kuma vs exit1.dev
A free monitor you host yourself, vs a free monitor that runs somewhere else.
Uptime Kuma is the self-hosted monitor a lot of developers try first. It is MIT licensed, has no monitor limit, and checks as often as every 20 seconds. You pay with a server and the time to keep it running. exit1.dev is the hosted version of the same idea: 50 monitors free, a REST API, and an MCP server so Claude or Cursor can set the checks up for you.
Best known for: open-source, self-hosted uptime monitoring with a friendly UI.
The short version
Run Uptime Kuma if you want everything on your own box, need to watch services behind your firewall, or enjoy running your own tools. Pick exit1.dev if you want the monitor to live outside the infrastructure it watches, with nothing to patch or back up. A monitor on the same VPS as your app goes down with it. exit1.dev Free covers 50 monitors at 5-minute checks, Nano gets you 30-second checks for $9/mo, and Pro gets 15-second checks for $24/mo.
Free vs self-hosted
exit1.dev's free plan next to Uptime Kuma on your own server.
| Feature | exit1.devFree | Uptime KumaSelf-hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0 plus your server |
| Hosting | Hosted for you | You run it (Docker or Node.js) |
| Monitors | 50 | No limit |
| Check interval | 5 min (15 sec on Pro) | 20 sec |
| Protocols | HTTP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, WebSocket | HTTP, TCP, ping, DNS, WebSocket, Docker, push |
| Monitors private services | ||
| Runs outside your infrastructure | Only if you host it elsewhere | |
| SSL certificate monitoring | ||
| Notification channels | Email + 1 webhook | 90+ services |
| Status pages | 1 | Multiple, with custom domains |
| REST API | No official API | |
| MCP server | Hosted, official | Community projects |
| Updates and backups | Handled for you | Yours to do |
- Price
- $0
- Hosting
- Hosted for you
- Monitors
- 50
- Check interval
- 5 min (15 sec on Pro)
- Protocols
- HTTP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, WebSocket
- Monitors private services
- Runs outside your infrastructure
- SSL certificate monitoring
- Notification channels
- Email + 1 webhook
- Status pages
- 1
- REST API
- MCP server
- Hosted, official
- Updates and backups
- Handled for you
- Price
- $0 plus your server
- Hosting
- You run it (Docker or Node.js)
- Monitors
- No limit
- Check interval
- 20 sec
- Protocols
- HTTP, TCP, ping, DNS, WebSocket, Docker, push
- Monitors private services
- Runs outside your infrastructure
- Only if you host it elsewhere
- SSL certificate monitoring
- Notification channels
- 90+ services
- Status pages
- Multiple, with custom domains
- REST API
- No official API
- MCP server
- Community projects
- Updates and backups
- Yours to do
Uptime Kuma facts from the project README and wiki at github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma (version 2.5), checked 2026-11-14.
Where exit1.dev wins
- Nothing to host. No Docker container, no upgrades, no database to back up.
- The monitor runs outside your infrastructure, so it still alerts when your server or your whole provider is down.
- An official REST API. Uptime Kuma's internal API is not supported for third-party use.
- A hosted MCP server on every plan: your agent creates the checks and alerts, then fires a test alert.
- 15-second checks and multi-region checks on Pro.
Where Uptime Kuma wins
- Free with no monitor limit. You only pay for the server.
- 20-second checks at no cost. exit1.dev needs Nano ($9/mo) for 30 seconds and Pro ($24/mo) for 15.
- It can reach services behind your firewall. exit1.dev only checks public endpoints.
- 90+ notification services out of the box, and your monitoring history stays on your own server.
Uptime Kuma vs exit1.dev — FAQ
Is there a hosted alternative to Uptime Kuma?
Yes. exit1.dev is a hosted uptime monitor with a free plan: 50 monitors, 5-minute checks, HTTP, TCP, UDP, ICMP and WebSocket checks, SSL monitoring, a status page, a REST API and an MCP server. You sign up and add URLs. There is no server to run.
Is Uptime Kuma really free?
The software is free and MIT licensed. You still need a server to run it on, plus the time to update it and back it up. A small VPS costs about the same as exit1.dev Indie ($4/mo), which gives you 100 monitors at 1-minute checks with nothing to maintain.
Does Uptime Kuma have an MCP server?
There is no official one. Community projects wrap Uptime Kuma's internal API, which the project does not support for third-party use. exit1.dev ships an official hosted MCP server at app.exit1.dev/mcp/v1 on every plan, Free included, plus the exit1-mcp npm package.
Should I host my uptime monitor on the same server as my app?
No. If that server or its network goes down, the monitor goes down with it and nobody gets an alert. Run Uptime Kuma on a separate machine with a different provider, or use a hosted monitor like exit1.dev that checks from outside.
Try exit1.dev free — no credit card
50 monitors, every protocol, SSL monitoring, and instant alerts on the free plan. Scale to 1,000 monitors and 15-second checks on Pro whenever you're ready.