Uptime Kuma is an excellent open-source monitor, and if you are happy running a server it may be all you need. Pulsy is open source too — AGPL-3.0, free forever to self-host — but it adds per-user isolation instead of a single shared admin login, and it offers Pulsy Cloud if you would rather not operate the server at all. Same licence freedoms, one more deployment option.
- Also open source (AGPL-3.0) and free forever to self-host — you are not trading your freedom for convenience.
- Multiple user accounts with per-user monitor isolation, not one shared admin login.
- Managed by Pulsy; sign up without operating a server
- Localized dashboard in five languages with full right-to-left support.
Pulsy supports HTTP, DNS, TCP and interval-based job heartbeats. Cloud capacities and API, channel, reporting and domain access depend on the plan. Self-hosting has no subscription cap on monitors or status pages; practical capacity depends on server resources, workload and retention. Check the destination release for supported features before migrating.
On narrow screens, scroll the table sideways to compare all columns. Keyboard: focus the table region and use the arrow keys.
| Feature | Pulsy (self-hosted) | Pulsy Cloud | Uptime Kuma |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free forever — you run it (AGPL-3.0) | Free tier, paid plans from $12/mo | Free forever — you run it (MIT) |
| Source code | Open source, AGPL-3.0 | Managed Pulsy service; verify release compatibility before migrating | Open source, MIT |
| Where your data lives | Your own infrastructure | Hosted by Pulsy; configuration-only JSON export (not a full backup) | Your own infrastructure |
| Setup | Docker deployment with database, secrets, TLS and backups configured | Sign up and go — nothing to run | docker run or docker compose |
| User accounts | Multiple accounts, per-user isolation | Multiple accounts, per-user isolation | Single admin login |
| Check types | HTTP GET/HEAD/POST, body/JSON rules, TLS expiry, DNS, TCP and job heartbeats | HTTP GET/HEAD/POST, body/JSON rules, TLS expiry, DNS, TCP and job heartbeats | HTTP, TCP, ping, DNS, push, and more |
| Status pages | Included, custom domains | Free: 1 default-domain page; Pro: 5 and Team: 25, with custom domains | Included |
| Dashboard | Localized (5 languages, RTL) | Localized (5 languages, RTL) | Check the vendor’s current language support |
Re-create the supported checks and notification settings in Pulsy, then run both monitors while you verify the results. Native Pulsy JSON import/export covers supported configuration only; it does not import competitor exports or transfer history, secrets, recipients or publication settings. Check the destination release before moving between Cloud and self-hosting.
Yes. Pulsy is licensed AGPL-3.0-or-later and the full source is on GitHub. You can self-host it for free forever, with every capability on and no tiers. Uptime Kuma is MIT-licensed — both are genuinely open source; the licences differ in what they require of anyone who redistributes a modified version.
Pulsy offers isolated single-user accounts, a dashboard in five languages including Arabic, and a managed Cloud option. Both products support HTTP, DNS, TCP and push-style monitoring; compare specialized protocols and integrations separately.
No. You can self-host Pulsy without a subscription or paid feature tiers. You operate the infrastructure, updates and backups. Capacity depends on your resources and workload; check the release you intend to install for supported features.
Compare the protocols and integrations your services need. Pulsy supports HTTP, DNS, TCP and heartbeat checks, per-user monitor ownership and five dashboard languages. Ping and other specialized probes are outside its current scope.
Track Linux host CPU, RAM, swap, filesystem use, load and uptime alongside website checks. Sustained resource pressure and a disconnected agent become actionable incidents.
Create a server monitor, then run its one-command systemd installer or Docker Compose setup. The agent reports over outbound HTTPS; Linux amd64 and arm64 are supported.
Default thresholds are 90% for CPU, RAM and each filesystem: 3 violating reports to alert, 2 healthy reports to recover. Missing reports cause an outage after 3 intervals. RAM alerts are not confirmed OOM events.
Available on every Cloud plan. Each server uses one monitor slot. Reports default to 60 seconds, subject to the plan’s minimum interval; history follows plan retention.
Explore Linux server monitoringStart with one website or Linux server. Understand the incident and know what to tell your customers.