Monika vs Upptime
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Monika | Upptime |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 66 · Good | 76 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Markdown |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | one-click, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 628 | ★ 17,168 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Pingdom, Datadog Synthetics | Statuspage, Pingdom |
What are Monika and Upptime?
Monika
Monika is a free and open-source synthetic monitoring tool that runs HTTP probes defined in a configuration file and alerts on failures. It checks uptime, response times, and assertions.
- Config-driven probes
- Response assertions
- Many alert channels
- Synthetic monitoring
Upptime
Upptime is an uptime monitor and status page powered entirely by GitHub Actions and Issues. It runs checks on a schedule, opens issues for downtime, and publishes a status page with no server required.
- Runs on GitHub Actions
- Auto-generated status page
- Downtime issues and alerts
- No servers to maintain
Monika vs Upptime: key differences
Monika is written in TypeScript, while Upptime is built with Markdown. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Monika versus MIT for Upptime. Upptime is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Monika. Upptime has the considerably larger community, at 17,168 GitHub stars versus 628. Monika lists first-class Docker deployment; Upptime does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Monika if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Upptime if…
- Completely free hosting
- Zero infrastructure
Watch out for
- Tied to GitHub
- Check interval limited by Actions
Frequently asked questions
Is Monika or Upptime better?
Neither is universally better. Upptime has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Monika and Upptime free and open-source?
Yes. Monika is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Upptime under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Monika and Upptime with Docker?
Monika: yes. Upptime: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Monika or Upptime?
Upptime has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Monika. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.