Automation and integrations decision
Cronitor
A small team can build a useful cron/heartbeat + basic uptime monitor (dashboard + alerts) affordably, but reproducing Cronitor's global probe network, advanced RUM, synthetic browser checks, long retention tiers, and enterprise features is impractical without substantial infrastructure investment.
Visit website↗Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Cronitor alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Receive heartbeats/check results, store and evaluate monitor state, run periodic probes or timeout checks, send alerts to configured channels, provide a simple dashboard/status page.
What it still won’t have
- Globally distributed probe infrastructure and fastest check frequencies
- Synthetic browser checks and advanced RUM features
- Built-in long-term retention tiers, volume discounts, and enterprise SLA/support
- Native premium integrations and on-demand SMS/pager services
What remains hard
- Infrastructure at scale
Our globally distributed system provides blazing fast alerts, so you'll know of issues before your customers do.
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 18 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a self-hosted cron/heartbeat and basic uptime monitor using Node.js (Express) + Postgres + Redis. Include: (1) REST API to create monitors and accept heartbeat pings, (2) worker that marks monitors as 'missing' when last-seen exceeds threshold and runs periodic HTTP probes, (3) integrations to send email (SendGrid) and Slack alerts, (4) simple web UI to list monitors, last-seen, and a public status page, (5) retention settings and basic user auth. Out of scope: globally distributed probe network, synthetic browser checks, enterprise SSO/SAML. Include error handling, logging, and automated tests for API and worker logic.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- Hard moats found in the evidence-3
- Evidence score60
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productCronitor home
- official pricingCronitor pricing
- official docsCronitor docs
- open sourcelouislam/uptime-kuma
- open sourceTwiN/gatus
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
