PHP Server Monitor 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 | PHP Server Monitor | Upptime |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 19 · At risk | 76 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Markdown |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | one-click, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,188 | ★ 17,168 |
| First released | 2010 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Pingdom, UptimeRobot | Statuspage, Pingdom |
What are PHP Server Monitor and Upptime?
PHP Server Monitor
PHP Server Monitor is a lightweight script that checks whether websites and servers are up and sends notifications by email, SMS, or messaging services when they go down. It runs on common LAMP hosting.
- Website and port checks
- Email and SMS alerts
- Uptime history
- Runs on shared hosting
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
PHP Server Monitor vs Upptime: key differences
PHP Server Monitor is written in PHP, while Upptime is built with Markdown. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for PHP Server Monitor versus MIT for Upptime. Upptime is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for PHP Server Monitor. PHP Server Monitor is the more established project (first released 2010), while Upptime arrived in 2020. Upptime has the considerably larger community, at 17,168 GitHub stars versus 2,188. PHP Server Monitor lists first-class Docker deployment; Upptime does not.
Why pick each one
Choose PHP Server Monitor if…
- Very easy to deploy
- Low resource use
Watch out for
- Basic feature set
- Limited graphing
Choose Upptime if…
- Completely free hosting
- Zero infrastructure
Watch out for
- Tied to GitHub
- Check interval limited by Actions
Frequently asked questions
Is PHP Server Monitor 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 PHP Server Monitor and Upptime free and open-source?
Yes. PHP Server Monitor is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Upptime under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PHP Server Monitor and Upptime with Docker?
PHP Server Monitor: yes. Upptime: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, PHP Server Monitor or Upptime?
Upptime has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for PHP Server Monitor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.