What it does
updown.io is a hosted service for checking HTTP(S), TCP(S), and ICMP endpoints, with pulse checks for jobs that report in on a schedule. It can test at intervals from 15 seconds to one hour, confirm downtime from multiple locations, and deliver notifications through channels such as email, Slack, Teams, Telegram, SMS, or webhooks. Hosted status pages and a REST API extend the workflow, while the central job remains detecting availability and performance problems rather than diagnosing application internals.
Monitor an endpoint or a job
For an internet-facing service, create a check for its endpoint and choose a frequency that balances detection speed against credit use. The service supports HTTP(S), TCP(S), and ICMP checks, along with certificate and domain-expiration alerts. Its REST API can create and update checks, retrieve downtime and metric data, manage recipients, and administer status pages. That makes it possible to keep a small set of service checks synchronized with deployment or infrastructure automation.
A scheduled task can use a pulse check instead of exposing a URL. In the documented workflow, select the pulse check type, give the check an alias, and choose how long to wait for the next signal. For example, a nightly backup could send its pulse only after a successful run; a deadline a little longer than a day gives a variable schedule room to finish without an immediate false alarm. A missing pulse then becomes a downtime alert.
Interpreting alerts and spend
updown.io verifies a down result with two additional checks, including one from another location, before it notifies you. This helps suppress brief glitches, but also means downtime shorter than the configured interval may not be reported. Its dashboard and status pages show availability and performance evidence; the public workflow does not describe application-log or distributed-trace collection, so use other telemetry to find an internal cause.
Pricing is usage based: credits are purchased in advance, and the site says one credit represents one check. It states there is no monthly fee or commitment and describes the first 100,000 credits for a new account as a free trial, not a continuing free plan. Check frequency, the number of monitored targets, and paid notification types affect how quickly credits are used, so estimate those before adding high-frequency checks.
Strengths
- Covers HTTP(S), TCP(S), and ICMP endpoints as well as pulse checks for scheduled jobs.
- Confirms downtime with additional checks from multiple locations before sending an alert.
- The REST API manages checks, metrics, downtime records, recipients, and status pages.
Watch out for
- An outage shorter than the configured check interval may not be reported after the confirmation process.
- Credit consumption depends on check frequency and volume, so higher-frequency monitoring increases usage.
Best for
- Operators who want external availability checks and alerts for public websites or network endpoints.
- Developers who need a missed-run signal for backups, cron jobs, or other scheduled work.
- Teams that prefer a credit-based service with API-managed checks and hosted status reports.
Sources
- updown.io | Website monitoring (Oct 25, 2026)
- API (Oct 25, 2026)
- How alerting works (Oct 25, 2026)
- How pulse/cron monitoring works? (Oct 25, 2026)
- updown.io Pricing (Oct 25, 2026)
- Terms of Service | updown.io (Oct 25, 2026)