What is Better Stack?
Better Stack (formerly Better Uptime) is an incident management platform that combines uptime monitoring, on-call scheduling, and status pages. It's part of a broader suite including logs and infrastructure monitoring.
What is OnlineOrNot?
OnlineOrNot helps software teams monitor their websites, APIs, and scheduled jobs with 30-second checks from multiple global locations.
Every check runs from multiple regions before alerting—eliminating false positives. When something actually breaks, you get notified instantly via Slack, SMS, PagerDuty, or email.
Status pages are included on all paid plans. And when you need help, you email the founder directly.
Better Stack often presents three critical challenges that hold engineering teams back:
1. Focused on detection over incident management
While Better Stack emphasizes incident response, on-call scheduling, and escalations, OnlineOrNot focuses on catching issues before they become incidents. Faster detection means fewer incidents to manage.
2. Simpler, more predictable pricing
OnlineOrNot uses simple per-check pricing at $2/check/month. No tiers to navigate, no feature gates. Compare the total cost for your specific monitor count to see which works better.
3. Bootstrapped and indie
Better Stack has taken VC funding and is building a broader platform. OnlineOrNot is bootstrapped, focused specifically on uptime monitoring, and will stay that way.
Compare Better Stack vs OnlineOrNot
| Feature | Better Stack | OnlineOrNot |
|---|---|---|
| Check frequency | 30 seconds (higher tiers) | 30 seconds on all plans |
| Pricing model | Per-monitor tiers | $2/check/month |
| False-alarm prevention | Multi-location | Multi-location |
| Cron job monitoring | Heartbeats included | Heartbeats included |
| Status pages | Included | Included |
| On-call scheduling | Built-in | Integrates with PagerDuty/Opsgenie |
| Log aggregation | Separate product | Not included (use specialized tools) |
| Company type | VC-backed startup | Bootstrapped, indie |
| Support | Team support | Direct founder access |
How OnlineOrNot improves reliability
Faster detection without the noise
30-second checks catch issues before users notice. Multi-location verification filters out false positives. You get speed without alert fatigue.
Everything in one place
Monitor websites, APIs, cron jobs, and heartbeats from one dashboard. Track SSL certificate expiry on every check. No need to stitch together multiple tools.
Status pages included
Keep customers informed with hosted status pages on your domain. Subscribers get automatic notifications when incidents are created or resolved. Included on all paid plans—not an upsell.
Unlimited team members, real support
Add your whole team on any plan. When you need help, email the founder directly—no ticket queues, no tiered support, responses within hours.
The migration process
1. Sign up free
Create your account with a 14-day trial. No credit card required.
2. Add your critical monitors
Start with your most important endpoints—core URLs, key APIs, any cron jobs that can't fail silently.
3. Run in parallel
Run OnlineOrNot alongside your current tool for 1-2 weeks. Compare alert quality and response times.
4. Migrate fully
Move all monitors over. We offer white-glove migration support—email the founder directly.
5. Cancel the old tool
Turn off your previous monitoring. You'll likely save money while getting faster, more reliable alerts.
Need to pitch OnlineOrNot to your bosses?
Here are the key points to help you get stakeholder buy-in:
"We'll catch issues before customers report them"
30-second checks detect outages 10x faster than 5-minute intervals. Multi-location verification means we only get real alerts.
"We're going to save money"
Transparent per-check pricing. No surprise overages. Status pages included, not an add-on.
"We get everything in one tool"
Uptime, API monitoring, cron jobs, heartbeats, and status pages. One subscription, one dashboard.
"We can actually get support"
Direct access to the founder. No tickets, no tiers, no waiting days for answers.