An UptimeRobot alternative that watches the domain, not just the URL

UptimeRobot is where most people start, and for good reason. Fifty free monitors is a lot, and for a side project a 5-minute check is plenty. The question is what you are actually responsible for.

Monitors versus domains

UptimeRobot counts monitors. You add a URL, pick a monitor type, and it gets checked. That model is flexible: ports, pings, keyword checks and heartbeats all fit into it, on any URL you like.

Barkme counts domains. You verify a domain once with a TXT record, and from then on everything that belongs to that domain is watched for you: the monitors you add under it, its SSL certificate, its registration expiry, and its standing on DNS filtering lists and mail blacklists. You do not set up a separate certificate or expiry monitor. They are part of owning the domain in Barkme.

If your job is "keep these five client sites alive", the domain model saves setup and catches the failures that never show up as a down check. If your job is "watch fifty endpoints across systems I do not own", UptimeRobot's model fits better.

The check UptimeRobot does not list

A domain can be put on a DNS filtering list after a compromised plugin or a bad neighbour on shared hosting. From then on, visitors behind Cloudflare's malware-blocking resolver, Quad9 or AdGuard get nothing, while your server answers normally and every uptime check stays green. Mail blacklists do the same to your email.

Barkme compares your domain's DNS answer across filtering and clean resolvers every day, and looks it up on Spamhaus DBL, SURBL and URIBL. You get one alert when it is listed and one when it clears. How a domain ends up blacklisted walks through a real case.

Speed and price

UptimeRobot's paid plans go further on interval, down to 15 seconds on Scale. Barkme's fastest is 30 seconds, on Founder at $19 a month and Pro at $39. Barkme confirms a failure before it alerts: a failed request is retried, and two consecutive failed checks open the incident, so a single blip does not wake anyone.

Where alerts land

Both tools email you. Barkme adds Slack and Telegram on Founder, and on Pro an incident can open a Linear issue or a Trello card that gets a comment with the total downtime when the site recovers. The ticket stays open until someone looks at the cause. See incidents as Linear issues and Trello cards.

UptimeRobot covers SMS and voice calls, which Barkme does not.

The short version

Pick UptimeRobot for breadth: many monitors, many monitor types, phone alerts. Pick Barkme when the domains are the asset and you want expiry and reputation watched alongside uptime, on a plan that starts free. The pricing page lists every Barkme limit.