Uptime Kuma is cheaper, but covers only 2 of 5 compared capabilities
$0/mo (Self-hosted (free)) vs Better Stack Responder at $34/mo — covering 40% of the 5 compared capabilities.
Cheaper. Not the same job.
Comparison scenario
Every cheaper-than claim is tied to a defined scenario — never a bare list price.
single user, monthly billing · USD · prices as observed on official pricing pages.
Responder plan at $34/mo, the cheapest paid plan.
Self-hosted (free): 0 USD/monthly.
Better Stack costs $34/mo on the Responder plan at single user, monthly billing. We found 1 assessed alternative that is cheaper in this scenario; 0 of them cover at least 75% of the 5 compared capabilities.
Capability comparison
Uptime Kuma covers 40% of the 5 capabilities compared against Better Stack. ✓ native · ◐ via integration · ✗ not found.
| Capability | Uptime Kuma | Better Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Status pages | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS & voice alerts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Heartbeat / cron monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| SSL monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Incident management & on-call | ✗ | ✓ |
What you give up
Capabilities Better Stack has that Uptime Kuma lacks.
- SMS & voice alerts — Get downtime alerts by text message or phone call.Missing from Uptime Kuma.
- Heartbeat / cron monitoring — Monitor that a scheduled job or cron task ran on time.Missing from Uptime Kuma.
- Incident management & on-call — Manage incidents and on-call schedules from one place.Missing from Uptime Kuma.
Plans & pricing, side by side
Advertised prices in USD as observed on the official pricing pages — per-seat and transaction-fee plans are marked.
| Self-hosted (free) | Free |
| Free (for personal projects) | Free |
| Responder | $34/seat/mo |
| Enterprise | Contact sales |
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Frequently asked
How much cheaper is Uptime Kuma than Better Stack?
100% cheaper in our scenario (single user, monthly billing): $0/mo on Self-hosted (free) vs $34/mo on Responder. That is $408 a year. But it covers only 2 of 5 compared capabilities, so it isn't a like-for-like replacement.
What does Uptime Kuma lack compared with Better Stack?
SMS & voice alerts, Heartbeat / cron monitoring, Incident management & on-call — 3 of the 5 compared capabilities.
When were these prices checked?
Better Stack: 2026-10-29; Uptime Kuma: 2026-10-26 — on the official pricing pages.
Who switched
Anonymous: no account, no email, no IP stored. Reports are shown once a switch has 3 or more and never change ranking or order — alternatives are computed from prices and capabilities only.
Sources & freshness
- https://betterstack.com/pricing (official_pricing, checked 2026-10-29)
- Uptime Kuma data last verified 2026-10-26