Upptime vs Uptime Kuma
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Uptime Kuma
Easy self-hosted uptime monitoring tool
| Feature | Upptime | Uptime Kuma |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Markdown | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | one-click, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,168 | ★ 91,752 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Statuspage, Pingdom | Pingdom, UptimeRobot |
What are Upptime and Uptime Kuma?
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
Uptime Kuma
Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted monitoring tool that checks the availability of websites, services, and APIs with a clean dashboard. It targets users who want a simple, attractive status monitor. It is deployed via Docker as a single container.
- Monitors HTTP, TCP, DNS and more
- Beautiful dashboard and status pages
- 90+ notification integrations
- Single-container deployment
Upptime vs Uptime Kuma: key differences
Upptime is written in Markdown, while Uptime Kuma is built with JavaScript. Upptime is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Uptime Kuma. Uptime Kuma has the considerably larger community, at 91,752 GitHub stars versus 17,168. Uptime Kuma lists first-class Docker deployment; Upptime does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Upptime if…
- Completely free hosting
- Zero infrastructure
Watch out for
- Tied to GitHub
- Check interval limited by Actions
Choose Uptime Kuma if…
- Very easy to use
- Great notifications
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Single instance, no clustering
- Not for deep metrics
Frequently asked questions
Is Upptime or Uptime Kuma better?
Neither is universally better. Uptime Kuma has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Upptime and Uptime Kuma free and open-source?
Yes. Upptime is licensed under MIT and Uptime Kuma under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Upptime and Uptime Kuma with Docker?
Upptime: check the project docs for container support. Uptime Kuma: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Upptime or Uptime Kuma?
Upptime has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Uptime Kuma. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.