Self-Hosted Uptime Monitoring in 2026: Uptime Kuma vs Gatus vs Statping-ng vs Better Stack

Description and use

Deploying a self‑hosted uptime monitoring stack on a $5 VPS reduces costs, keeps probe data on‑premise, and offers flexible probe types and status pages. Uptime Kuma excels in UX, Gatus in config‑as‑code and lightweight footprint, Statping‑ng is no longer recommended, and a self‑hosted Better Stack is suitable only if incident management is required.

Problem

Organizations with more than three services need frequent uptime checks (every 30 s) and fast alerts, but SaaS options become expensive and store probe data off‑premise.

Outcome

Deploying a self‑hosted uptime monitoring stack on a $5 VPS reduces costs, keeps probe data on‑premise, and offers flexible probe types and status pages. Uptime Kuma excels in UX, Gatus in config‑as‑code and lightweight footprint, Statping‑ng is no longer recommended, and a self‑hosted Better Stack is suitable only if incident management is required.

Workflow

• 1. Choose a stack based on team size and needs (Uptime Kuma for solo devs, Gatus for DevOps teams, Better Stack for incident management).
• 2. Pull the official Docker image or binary (e.g., louislam/uptime‑kuma:1, gatus binary).
• 3. Create a minimal docker‑compose or config.yaml file with service definitions and probe intervals.
• 4. Mount a persistent volume for data (SQLite or Postgres).
• 5. Expose necessary ports and optionally use host networking for ICMP probes.
• 6. Start the container or binary and verify healthcheck endpoint.
• 7. Configure notification targets (Telegram, Slack, Webhook, etc.).
• 8. (Optional) Deploy a second instance in another region for multi‑region probes and point both to the same Postgres backend.
• 9. Set up a status page (built‑in in Kuma or Gatus) or integrate with a custom domain via Caddy.
• 10. Monitor alerts and adjust probe conditions as needed.