What is OpenStatus?
OpenStatus is an open-source uptime monitoring and status page platform built by a bootstrapped two-person team. Their managed service offers monitoring from 28 global regions with status pages and incident management. Plans range from a limited free tier to $100/month Pro, with monitor counts and check intervals tied to your plan level.
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.
OpenStatus often presents three critical challenges that hold engineering teams back:
1. Monitor caps force upgrades
OpenStatus caps monitors per plan: 1 on free, 20 on Starter ($30/mo), 50 on Pro ($100/mo). When you hit the cap, you upgrade to the next tier regardless of whether you need the other features. OnlineOrNot charges $2/monitor/month - add monitors without jumping tiers.
2. Fast checks cost more
30-second monitoring requires OpenStatus Pro at $100/month. Their Starter plan maxes out at 1-minute intervals. OnlineOrNot includes 30-second checks on every paid plan, starting at $10/month.
3. Missing cron job monitoring
OpenStatus focuses on uptime and API monitoring but doesn't offer cron job (heartbeat) monitoring. If you need to track scheduled tasks, background jobs, or batch processes, you'd need a separate tool. OnlineOrNot includes heartbeat monitoring on all plans.
Compare OpenStatus vs OnlineOrNot
| Feature | OpenStatus | OnlineOrNot |
|---|---|---|
| Check frequency | 10min (free), 1min (Starter), 30s (Pro) | 30 seconds on all paid plans |
| Pricing model | $0 / $30 / $100 tiers with monitor caps | $2/monitor/month, no caps |
| Monitors included | 1 / 20 / 50 depending on plan | Unlimited (pay per monitor) |
| Data retention | 14 days / 3 months / 12 months | Full history on all plans |
| Cron job monitoring | ||
| Status pages | 1 included, +$20/mo each extra | Included on all paid plans |
| False-alarm prevention | Multi-region checks | Multi-location verification |
| SSL certificate monitoring | Advanced with expiry tracking | |
| Regions | 6 (free) / 28 (paid) | 17 AWS regions globally |
| Support | Discord / GitHub issues | 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.