HostTracker

Overview

HostTracker monitors websites, servers and APIs from outside a customer’s network. It is best suited to agencies, hosting resellers and webmasters overseeing multiple domains. Its broad monitoring and integration toolkit is useful for varied environments, but the permanent free tier is too constrained for anything beyond light monitoring.

Key features

Fourteen monitor types span HTTPS uptime, ping, TCP ports, APIs, browser transactions, page speed, database queries and SNMP, alongside checks for domain and SSL expiry and Google Web Risk flags. That range can bring availability, performance and security checks together; a small site needing only an uptime ping may have little use for the extra scope.

Checks run through more than 300 worldwide checkpoints on around 460 distributed agent machines. Failed checks are rechecked from other locations, and users can set how many confirmations are needed before a monitor is declared down. This helps guard against false alarms, though teams should weigh additional confirmations against the need for rapid incident alerts.

Fifteen alert channels include email, SMS, voice calls, webhooks, Slack, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty, Telegram, Discord and web push. Every plan also includes public status pages with incidents, maintenance windows, email subscribers and an embeddable uptime badge, a useful customer-facing feature even on the free tier.

Developer access includes a REST API with 182 operations, SDKs for JavaScript, Python, .NET and Go, plus a command-line tool, Terraform provider and MCP server. SSL certificate expiry and trust-chain issues, domain expiry, DNS blacklist listings, and malware or phishing flags through Google Web Risk add security-oriented checks beyond basic uptime.

Pricing

The permanent Free plan costs nothing (billed $0/month) and allows 2 monitors, 2 contacts and checks every 30 min. That is a no-cost way to watch a couple of sites, but the slow interval and small contact allowance limit its usefulness for operational coverage.

The 30-day free trial costs nothing (billed $0/month) and includes 100 monitors, 10 contacts and checks every 1 min, with no credit card required. Fair-use limits apply to SMS and API access. It is a substantial evaluation window, but the trial is temporary.

Personal costs $5 a month (billed $5/month) for 5 monitors, 5 contacts and checks every 10 min. It is the least expensive paid option, but the monitor cap and interval suit only a small portfolio. Solo costs $9 a month (billed $9/month) and provides 1 monitor, 10 contacts and checks every 1 min; its faster checks and larger contact pool come at the odd tradeoff of a single monitor, making it a narrow fit.

Enterprise500 costs $149 a month (billed $149/month) for 500 monitors, 500 contacts and checks every 1 min. Enterprise1000 costs $249 a month (billed $249/month) for 1,000 monitors, 1,000 contacts and checks every 30 sec. These larger plans suit organizations needing broad coverage and many recipients; the jump in price over Personal is substantial. The team owns customer support, with technical support part of founder Artem Prysyazhnuk’s role.

Platforms

HostTracker is available on the web and through an API. The API and developer tooling make it a fit for teams that want to connect monitoring to their own workflows; there is no mobile platform among the stated options.

Who it's for

HostTracker makes the most sense for web agencies, hosting resellers and webmasters responsible for multiple domains, especially those who need several kinds of checks, alert routing and customer-facing status pages. It is less compelling for a single site with modest uptime needs, given the free tier’s two-monitor ceiling and 30-minute checks, or for anyone seeking a paid plan that pairs multiple monitors with one-minute checks at the lowest price.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Broad monitoring covers websites, infrastructure, APIs, performance and selected security risks, reducing the need to split those checks across tools.
• Pros: Cross-location rechecks and configurable confirmation thresholds help limit false alarms.
• Pros: Status pages are included on every plan, with incident and maintenance notices, subscribers and an embeddable badge.
• Cons: Free monitoring is capped at two sites and checks only every 30 minutes, a weak fit for timely incident detection.
• Cons: Personal’s five-monitor cap and ten-minute interval restrict its usefulness for growing portfolios.
• Cons: Solo costs more than Personal while allowing just one monitor, so its one-minute checks do not suit multi-site coverage.

Alternatives

Website Monitoring Software and Synthetic Monitoring are useful category roundups for comparing monitoring approaches; consult API Monitoring Tools when API checks are the priority.

• UptimeRobot is worth considering for hobby or nonprofit projects: its free plan offers 50 monitors, five-minute checks and Android and iOS platforms, compared with HostTracker’s two monitors and 30-minute free checks.
• Dotcom-Monitor offers up to 25 targets, checks as often as every five minutes and two monitoring locations on its free plan, plus web, desktop and mobile platforms. It is a stronger free-tier fit when more targets and platform coverage matter than HostTracker’s broader monitor mix.
• SolidPing has a free plan with 100 monitors, 10 check executions per minute, five team members and one private-location agent. Consider it when monitor volume and team seats are the priority.
• Uptimia may suit a small website seeking a defined paid package: Basic costs $9 a month billed annually and includes 10 uptime checks, one-minute testing, one advanced check, one server and one status page.
• Tallwatch provides 10 free monitors, 60-second checks from three regions, up to three team members and a custom-domain status page, with email and Slack alerts. Its free plan is a better fit when faster checks and multiple regions matter.
• Cronitor offers a free-forever Hacker plan with five monitors, email and Slack alerts, a status page, 50 subscribers and a five-minute fastest check frequency. It is a reasonable alternative for a smaller alerting and status-page setup.
• Pulsetic has a free plan with 10 monitors, five-minute checks, three regions and three months of uptime history and logs. It is worth comparing when historical uptime records and multiple regions are useful.
• Hyperping offers 20 monitors, a five-minute interval, one seat, one server monitoring agent and a basic status page on its free plan. Consider it when more free monitors and a specified seat are preferable to HostTracker’s free-tier limits.

Verdict

Choose HostTracker if you manage multiple domains and want external checks, varied alert routes, developer integrations and status pages in one service. Its monitoring breadth and false-alarm controls are the strongest reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if you need meaningful free coverage or an inexpensive paid plan that combines several monitors with frequent checks.