PHP Server Monitor vs Vigil
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 | Vigil |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 19 · At risk | 71 · Good |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,188 | ★ 1,948 |
| First released | 2010 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Pingdom, UptimeRobot | Statuspage, Pingdom |
What are PHP Server Monitor and Vigil?
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
Vigil
Vigil is a microservices status page that monitors distributed infrastructure and reports outages. It can probe HTTP, TCP, and ICMP endpoints and includes a local Prober for push-based reporting.
- Status page and monitoring
- HTTP, TCP, ICMP probes
- Push reporting with Vigil Reporter
- Alerts to Slack and email
PHP Server Monitor vs Vigil: key differences
PHP Server Monitor is written in PHP, while Vigil is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for PHP Server Monitor versus MPL-2.0 for Vigil. Vigil is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for PHP Server Monitor. PHP Server Monitor is the more established project (first released 2010), while Vigil arrived in 2018.
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 Vigil if…
- Very low resource use
- Combines checks and status page
Watch out for
- Configuration via TOML files
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is PHP Server Monitor or Vigil better?
PHP Server Monitor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Vigil if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are PHP Server Monitor and Vigil free and open-source?
Yes. PHP Server Monitor is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Vigil under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PHP Server Monitor and Vigil with Docker?
PHP Server Monitor: yes. Vigil: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PHP Server Monitor or Vigil?
Vigil has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for PHP Server Monitor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.