Comparison

Clesk Uptime.Or Uptime Kuma?

Uptime Kuma is an excellent open-source tool and often the right choice for homelabs. The honest question is not "which tool is better" but: do you want to run, secure and monitor your monitoring yourself, or should it simply work?

The comparison at a glance

Details about Uptime Kuma: as of July 2026, based on publicly available vendor information. Please verify there.

Comparison
Clesk Uptime
Uptime Kuma
Price
Clesk UptimeFree: 3 monitors forever; Pro: €79/year incl. VAT (20 monitors)
Uptime KumaFree (open source, MIT license), plus your own server from roughly €4-10/month
Operations and updates
Clesk UptimeHosted, maintained, updated, backed up
Uptime KumaInstall (e.g. Docker), update and back up yourself
The blind spot
Clesk UptimeMonitoring runs on separate infrastructure, independent of your servers
Uptime KumaIf your server is down, your monitoring is down with it, exactly when it matters
Signed check logs
Clesk UptimeYes, cryptographically signed, exportable as evidence
Uptime KumaNo
Status pages
Clesk UptimeIncluded (public; private/password-protected on Pro)
Uptime KumaIncluded
Alert channels
Clesk UptimeEmail; Pro: Slack, Discord, webhooks
Uptime KumaVery many integrations (configured by you)
Data sovereignty
Clesk UptimeGerman provider, servers in Germany
Uptime KumaFull control, data stays on your own server

When is Uptime Kuma the better choice?

  • Homelab, internal services or hobby projects: full control, zero license cost.
  • You want monitoring data exclusively on your own hardware.
  • You enjoy self-hosting and already run a well-maintained Docker environment.

When is Clesk Uptime the better choice?

  • Client projects or your own shop: monitoring must not die with the server it watches.
  • Nobody on the team wants to own updates, backups and monitoring-the-monitoring at night.
  • You need solid evidence (signed logs) rather than database rows on your own system.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

I already run Uptime Kuma. Why switch?

You do not have to. Many combine both: Uptime Kuma internally, Clesk Uptime as the external, independent instance for business-critical sites, including evidence-grade logs.

What does Uptime Kuma really cost?

The software is free. In practice you add a server (roughly €4-10/month), updates, backups, TLS and your time, plus the risk of monitoring and monitored services failing together.

Is Uptime Kuma not just as good?

As a tool: yes, it is mature and actively maintained. The difference is the operating model: hosted and independent versus self-run on your own infrastructure.

Clesk Uptime

Give your important sites an external watchdog.

Three monitors free forever, set up in two minutes.

Monitor for free