AltFreeStack
Dev Toolsdocker-ready1-click-deploypermissive-license100% FOSS🟒 Lightweight · ~256MB

Uptime Kuma: Open Source alternative to UptimeRobot in 2026

Uptime Kuma monitors the availability of your sites and services with notifications to 90+ different channels, in a clean interface that's very easy to self-host.

License MIT92.4k starsWebsite GitHub Repository

Audit Snapshot

View notes β†’
  • License β€” Matches GitHub

  • GitHub β€” Active

  • Latest release β€” 2.5.6 Β· 3 days ago

  • Docker Compose β€” Partial

  • Production β€” Not production-tested by AltFreeStack

Uptime Kuma vs. UptimeRobot

Pros

  • One of the community's most-loved self-hosted projects

Things to consider

  • Doesn't natively include deep infrastructure monitoring (CPU/RAM)

Quick Docker installation guide

Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide β†’

πŸ’‘ Official SaaS or self-hosted with AltFreeStack?

  • On the official cloud: a recurring monthly fee and usage limits on UptimeRobot.
  • On your own VPS: 100% free software on your own server, with no artificial row, project or user limits.
docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"
services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:2.5.5
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3001:3001" # put a reverse proxy (Caddy/Nginx/Traefik) with HTTPS in front of this port, pointed at your domain
    volumes:
      - uptime_kuma_data:/app/data
volumes:
  uptime_kuma_data:

πŸš€ Deploy in 1 command

Recommended for beginners

Copy this single command and paste it into your freshly created VPS's console (Vultr, DigitalOcean...). It downloads the script, prints it to your screen so you can see exactly what it's about to do (never a blind direct pipe), and only then installs Docker if needed, writes the files with secrets already generated, and starts everything β€” no nano, no pasting code blocks.

curl -sSL ".../api/deploy?stack=uptime-kuma" -o deploy.sh && cat deploy.sh && bash deploy.sh

This docker-compose corresponds to an actively maintained project β€” last commit today.

This docker-compose not working for you? Report it on GitHub β†’

Technical profile

License
MIT
Category
Dev Tools
Replaces
UptimeRobot, Pingdom
Tech stack
Node.jsVue.jsSQLite

Under the hood

Database

SQLite

Language

Node.js

Platforms

Web

Key features

  • HTTP(s), TCP, DNS and more monitoring
  • Notifications to 90+ services
  • Public status pages

Preview

Uptime Kuma interface preview

Public image provided by Uptime Kuma on its own website.

πŸ’Ύ Backups in 3 steps (Day 2)

As long as the ./data folder (the "volume" mapped into the container) exists on your server, your data survives any restart or container update β€” that's the only thing you need to back up.

1. Create a compressed backup on the server

tar -czvf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz ./data

2. Download it to your computer

From your computer's terminal (not your server's):

scp root@YOUR_IP:~/app/backup-*.tar.gz ./

3. Restore in case of emergency

tar -xzvf backup-file.tar.gz
🌐 Connect your domain with free SSL

Step 1 β€” Set up the DNS

In your domain registrar's dashboard (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy...), create a record:

Type
A
Name/Host
@ (root domain) or a subdomain, e.g. app
Content/Value
Your server's public IP

Wait 5 to 15 minutes for the record to propagate across the internet.

Step 2 β€” Automatic reverse proxy with Caddy

One single file, no Nginx config or manual certificates β€” Caddy issues and renews Let's Encrypt HTTPS on its own.

Create a file called Caddyfile:

yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3001
}

Start Caddy with this command (pulls the image and runs it in the background):

docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 --name caddy --restart always -v $PWD/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile -v caddy_data:/data caddy