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It’s so strange to think of a world without the internet. Almost everything we do now is online. And if you want your business to succeed, then getting a good website up-and-running is a top priority.

Getting a website up is somewhat easy these days. There are so many options to choose from ranging from free ready-made templates to paying top dollars to get the best website graphic designer. You can even teach yourself how to make one (hint: YouTube).

Here is our list of the four best website monitoring tools for uptime monitoring:

  1. ManageEngine Applications Manager – FREE TRIAL This package of application monitoring systems includes a Ping-based uptime monitor and also real user monitoring for websites. Available for Windows Server, Linux, AWS, and Azure. Access a 30-day free trial.
  2. Pingdom – FREE TRIAL A SaaS availability checker that offers constant Ping tests from more than 100 locations.
  3. Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL A cloud package of network, server, and application monitors that also offers website synthetic and real user monitoring tools.
  4. Montastic.com A simple online website availability checker that is free to use and has subscription plans that offer more detailed uptime and load time checks.

However, the real trick is the “running” part of “up-and-running”. An online website should always be, well, online. And while you can’t keep an eye on it 24/7 (unless you’re secretly a robot), there are website & Network monitoring tools and software that can do this for you.

Maybe you’re concerned that your site is barely fast enough to compete. Perhaps you want to see if you are actually getting what you paid for as it concerns your web hosting provider. Or just simply, you want to make sure everything is going smoothly.

The best Website Monitoring Tools

1. ManageEngine Applications Manager – FREE TRIAL

ManageEngine Applications Manager provides a range of synthetic monitoring services for websites that includes continuous availability testing. A failed contact will produce a log record plus a snapshot image of the browser error message. All successful tests are logged as well.

ManageEngine Applications Manager

The ManageEngine package also includes real user monitoring that reports on events encountered in a website during access by visitors from around the world. You can set up your own complex tests, either by recording your own actions and then replaying them or by creating a script.

The package also includes distributed tracing. This tracks the activities of microservices that might contribute to the functions in your websites. The reports from the distributed tracing system can be combined with the website monitoring service to create a dull performance tracker. The Applications Manager will also generate an application dependency map for each of your applications that traces performance metrics all the way down to the resources of the supporting server.

Performance monitoring processes in the Applications Manager include thresholds that will trigger alerts if crossed. These alerts can be forwarded to technicians by SMS, email, Slack message, or through a service desk ticketing system.

ManageEngine Applications Manager installs on your own servers that run Windows Server and it is also available for Linux. You can host it on an AWS account or an Azure account if you prefer to run your system in the cloud. ManageEngine offers the Applications Manager on a 30-day free trial.

2. Pingdom – FREE TRIAL

Pingdom has etched out a niche as one of the forerunners in this industry by offering the most comprehensive assortment of website monitoring solutions, with a friendly UI and an unbeatable price tag (this won’t break the bank, promise).

Pingdom

Uptime tests come from over 100 locations throughout the planet and include a second test to clarify out incorrect readings. There are extra tests for page rate and artificial transactions. Besides, the reports are sent to you through email or the more casual SMS. You are also informed not just when the site is inoperative, but also when performance is delayed or when a particular function stops operating.

You can try Pingdom for free with its 30-day trial period. Afterward, you can decide if you want to pay for the service or look for a better one (doubtful but possible).

3. Site24x7 Website Monitoring – FREE TRIAL

Site24x7 is a cloud-based platform of system monitoring tools that is available in specialized modules. Uptime monitoring is part of the Site24x7 Website Monitoring service.

The uptime monitor is launched recursively and users can choose the location from which tests are launched from a list of more than 110 locations around the world. A standard subscription to the Website Monitoring service gets the ability to check on availability from eight of the possible 110 locations around the world.

Site24x7 Cloud Monitoring Tool

The Website Monitoring service is available in four editions: Starter, Pro, Classic, and Enterprise. The top two plans offer uptime checks from 16 locations simultaneously. Uptime monitoring tests occur once per minute.

Other tools in the package include response time checks, real user monitoring, and synthetic transaction monitoring. Tests also check on the validity of a site’s SSL certificate and domain registration expiration. Security tests include detection of infection and unauthorized changes to Web pages. The system will also check on blocklists to make sure your site hasn’t been marked as suspicious.

The Starter, Pro, and Classic editions of Site24x7 Website Monitoring are available on a 30-day free trial.

4. Montastic.com – FREE WEB SERVICE

I’m not going to lie about it, Montastic isn’t as powerful as some other website monitoring tools claim to be, it does produce enough potential to make this “small but powerful” free service a must-try for small websites that may not need additional, but somewhat useless, options.

Montastic will log in to your site every 30 minutes, which isn’t certainly great compared to the much-lesser five-minute interludes granted by other free services; however, you have the option to upgrade to get better service like shorter “check-in” intervals and specific URLs to observe.

Montastic is a favorite tool for those looking for a free solution. The UI is very basic and simplistic; with only warnings when something goes awry. Again, it’s pretty fundamental, but it is suitable for smaller businesses who are simply looking to be informed when their site doesn’t perform as expected (without all the added bells and whistles).

Now, if you are slightly bigger than the average business startup, you can pick a price and choose the features that would work for your company depending on your company size and demands.

Montastic will inform you through email when something unwanted happens (i.e. when your site goes down and when it comes back up). It supports Mac, Windows, and even Android.

Conclusion

The great news is that there’s a spectrum of solutions with a broad assortment of feature sets at rates to fit any account size. We suggest Pingdom as the best website monitoring tool on the market – price is fair and the features are more than enough.

There’s absolutely no way to tell which website monitoring service is more helpful than the others because it totally depends on what your intentions are with your website.

One thing is for certain – Paid premium website monitoring tools will offer more innovations and solid data to help you develop your site. If you’re serious about website monitoring, set a budget so you can benefit from these tools.

We’re not assuming that the “freebies” are automatically bad, though. On the contrary, they’re exceptional if you don’t need all the extra, and undeniably attractive, features. You can begin with one of the free tools, and if you feel you require a more comprehensive and stable service, then consider a paid plan for monitoring your site.