How to Self-Host Uptime Kuma: Uptime Monitor and Status Page 2026

TL;DR

Uptime Kuma (MIT, ~60K GitHub stars, Node.js) is the most popular self-hosted uptime monitoring tool — a drop-in replacement for Uptime Robot or Freshping. It monitors HTTP endpoints, TCP ports, DNS records, Docker containers, and more, then sends alerts via Slack, Discord, Telegram, email, and 90+ other notification channels. The built-in status page feature lets you publish a public status page for your users. Uptime Robot costs $7/month for 50 monitors; Uptime Kuma is free with unlimited monitors.

Key Takeaways

• Uptime Kuma: MIT, ~60K stars — most popular self-hosted uptime monitor
• Monitor types: HTTP(S), TCP, Ping, DNS, Docker, Push (heartbeat), Keyword, JSON Query
• 90+ notifications: Slack, Discord, Telegram, PagerDuty, email, ntfy, Mattermost, and more
• Status pages: Public or password-protected status pages for your services
• Dashboard: Beautiful real-time dashboard with response time graphs
• Certificate monitoring: Alerts when SSL certs are about to expire

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Uptime Kuma vs Alternatives

Feature	Uptime Kuma	Uptime Robot Free	Freshping Free
License	MIT	Proprietary	Proprietary
Cost	Free (hosting)	Free (50 monitors)	Free (50 monitors)
Monitor interval	20s min	5 min	1 min
Monitor types	12+	HTTP, TCP, Ping	HTTP, TCP
Notifications	90+	Email, SMS, Slack	Email, Slack
Status pages	Unlimited	1	1
SMS alerts	Via Twilio	Yes ($)	No
Data retention	Unlimited	2 months	30 days
Self-hosted	Yes	No	No

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Part 1: Docker Setup

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:latest
    container_name: uptime-kuma
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"
    volumes:
      - uptime_kuma_data:/app/data
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro    # For Docker container monitoring

volumes:
  uptime_kuma_data:

docker compose up -d

Visit http://your-server:3001 → create admin account.

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Part 2: HTTPS with Caddy

status.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3001
}

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Part 3: Adding Monitors

Click + Add New Monitor:

HTTP(S) Monitor

Most common — checks that a URL returns a success response:

Monitor Type: HTTP(S)
Name: Nextcloud
URL: https://cloud.yourdomain.com
Heartbeat Interval: 60 seconds
Retries: 3
Keyword: "Nextcloud"   # Optional: ensure page contains this text

TCP Port Monitor

Check that a port is open (databases, SSH, custom services):

Monitor Type: TCP Port
Name: PostgreSQL
Host: db.yourdomain.com
Port: 5432

Docker Container Monitor

Ensure a container is running:

Monitor Type: Docker Container
Name: Vaultwarden
Container Name/ID: vaultwarden
Docker Host: /var/run/docker.sock

DNS Monitor

Check DNS resolution:

Monitor Type: DNS
Name: Main Domain DNS
Hostname: yourdomain.com
Resolver Server: 1.1.1.1
DNS Record Type: A

Push Monitor (Heartbeat)

For scheduled jobs — they ping Uptime Kuma to confirm they ran:

Monitor Type: Push
Name: Daily Backup Job

The push URL: https://status.yourdomain.com/api/push/your-unique-token

In your backup script:

# Ping Uptime Kuma after successful backup:
curl "https://status.yourdomain.com/api/push/your-unique-token?status=up&msg=OK"

If the heartbeat isn't received, Uptime Kuma alerts.

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Part 4: Notifications

Configure alerts → Settings → Notifications → Add Notification:

Slack

Notification Type: Slack
Name: Slack Alerts
Webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK
Channel: #alerts
Username: Uptime Kuma

Discord

Notification Type: Discord
Webhook URL: https://discord.com/api/webhooks/YOUR/WEBHOOK

Email (SMTP)

Notification Type: Email
From: noreply@yourdomain.com
SMTP Host: smtp.yourdomain.com
SMTP Port: 587
Username: noreply@yourdomain.com
Password: your-password
To: ops@yourdomain.com

ntfy (Self-Hosted Push)

Notification Type: ntfy
Server URL: https://ntfy.yourdomain.com
Topic: uptime-alerts

PagerDuty

Notification Type: PagerDuty
Integration Key: your-integration-key
Priority: high

After setting up a notification channel, assign it to monitors — individual monitors can have different alert channels.

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Part 5: Status Pages

Create a public status page for your users:

1. Status Pages → + New Status Page
2. Name: "Service Status"
3. Slug: status → URL: https://status.yourdomain.com/status/status
4. Add monitors to display
5. Group monitors into sections:
   • "API Services" → api.yourdomain.com, auth.yourdomain.com
   • "User Facing" → app.yourdomain.com, www.yourdomain.com
6. Publish — share the URL with users

Custom domain for status page:

# Separate status domain:
mystatus.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3001
    rewrite * /status/mystatus{uri}
}

Password protection:

• Toggle "Enable Password" on the status page settings

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Part 6: Certificate Expiry Monitoring

Uptime Kuma checks SSL cert expiry on HTTP monitors automatically:

• Alerts at: 14 days before expiry (default)
• Customize in monitor settings: TLS/SSL → Ignore TLS/SSL error (for self-signed)

For dedicated cert monitoring:

1. Monitor Type: HTTP(S)
2. URL: your site
3. Under Advanced → Upside Down Mode: No
4. Kuma reports cert expiry date in the dashboard

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Part 7: Proxy/API Integration

Use the REST API to manage monitors programmatically:

# Get all monitors (requires session cookie or API key):
curl -X GET https://status.yourdomain.com/metrics \
  --cookie "session=your-session-id"

# Uptime Kuma exposes Prometheus metrics at:
https://status.yourdomain.com/metrics

# Scrape in Prometheus:
scrape_configs:
  - job_name: "uptime_kuma"
    metrics_path: /metrics
    static_configs:
      - targets: ["status.yourdomain.com"]
    basic_auth:
      username: admin
      password: your-password

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Part 8: Maintenance Mode

Pause monitoring during planned maintenance:

1. Select monitor(s)
2. Pause → monitoring halts, no alerts during the pause window

Or schedule maintenance windows:

1. Maintenance → New Maintenance
2. Title: "Scheduled DB maintenance"
3. Time window: Saturday 02:00-04:00 UTC
4. Assign monitors — they won't alert during this window

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Maintenance

# Update Uptime Kuma:
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

# Logs:
docker compose logs -f uptime-kuma

# Backup data (SQLite + config):
tar -czf uptime-kuma-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  $(docker volume inspect uptime_kuma_uptime_kuma_data --format '{{.Mountpoint}}')

# Export all monitors as JSON:
# Settings → Backup → Export

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See all open source monitoring and observability tools at OSSAlt.com/categories/monitoring.