StatusCake alternative with one price per site

StatusCake counts uptime, SSL and domain monitors as separate allowances, so a plan can run out on one count while the others sit unused. Priced out for a client portfolio, that count decides which plan you need.

Quick verdict

Our read is that StatusCake is the better choice when you need monitoring beyond websites. It adds page speed and server monitoring, and it tests from 43 locations in 30 countries. OctoPing fits when the work is client marketing sites and you want every check on every site at one price. StatusCake's homepage names these areas: uptime, page speed, SSL, domain and server monitoring. Robots.txt, noindex and page text checks are not among them, and OctoPing has them.

Choose StatusCake if

• You need page speed or server monitoring. Superior includes 15 page speed monitors and 3 server monitors, and Business 30 and 10.
• You want domain tools beyond expiry: rules for DNS records to follow, with an alert when a record breaks them, and blacklist checks against 8 of the biggest blacklists.
• You want to try before you pay. StatusCake offers a free plan and a 7-day trial of its paid plans.

Choose OctoPing if

• You want every check on every site at the plan price. SSL, domain expiry, DNS, hosting, robots.txt, noindex and page text can all be switched on for each site, so no second allowance runs out first.
• You look after marketing sites, where in our view the costly failures are quiet ones. Alerts fire on a rewritten robots.txt, a page that picks up a noindex, a site that moves to another host or CDN and a change in a page's main text.
• Your clients should hear about problems from you. Every OctoPing plan includes unlimited white-labelled status pages, and a contact on a page receives its alerts and a monthly summary. StatusCake's status product is StatusCake Pages, which visitors can follow by email, text message or RSS.

How the two compare

StatusCake's column draws on its pricing page, homepage, domain monitoring page and developer reference.

StatusCake narrows two gaps. It offers string matching on an uptime test, which can mark the check down when a string is missing or, with the do not find option, when it is present, so one test can watch robots.txt for “Disallow: /” and another a page for “noindex”, each as a test of its own. Its record rules cover the A record that a host move changes. OctoPing sets no string or address in advance. It alerts on any change to robots.txt, on a page that gains or loses noindex, and on a move to a new network or CDN.

Pricing at the same site counts

Prices are dollars a month. Monthly is month-to-month billing, and annual is the yearly bill divided by 12. The StatusCake plan in each row is the cheapest one whose uptime and domain counts cover every site, with an SSL expiry alert on each uptime test. Superior holds 50 domain monitors, and Business holds 120.

OctoPing costs less at 20 and 60 sites. At 60 sites the domain count is what moves a StatusCake account up to Business, because 100 uptime tests would still fit Superior. If you skip domain monitoring, or the 60 sites sit on 50 domains or fewer, Superior covers them for less than OctoPing's 60-site plan. At 200 sites StatusCake quotes custom pricing, so there is no list price to set beside OctoPing's. The rows assume each site has its own domain.

StatusCake Pages lists status page plans of its own. Silver gives 5 pages for $49.95 monthly or $41.63 annual, and Gold gives 10 for $249.96 monthly or $208.29 annual. StatusCake branding is removed on Silver and Gold. OctoPing's plan price includes unlimited white-labelled pages.

Where StatusCake does more

• Page speed and servers. Superior includes 15 page speed monitors and 3 server monitors. OctoPing measures neither.
• Reach. It tests from 43 locations in 30 countries, while OctoPing checks from a primary checker and three regions.
• Domain depth. StatusCake adds blacklist checks against 8 of the biggest blacklists, where OctoPing's DNS check covers NS and MX records.
• Branded reports. StatusCake lists white label reports without StatusCake branding, on Superior and Business. OctoPing's monthly summary carries OctoPing's logo, and branded monthly reports are on its roadmap.
• Text messages. StatusCake lists free SMS credits every month, 75 on Superior and 400 on Business. OctoPing sends no SMS.

Moving over

1. List the URLs of your uptime tests and add each as a site, as the first site guide shows. A group per client keeps them apart.
2. Leave the separate SSL and domain tests behind, since every new site starts with SSL and domain expiry on. Some registries, Germany's .de among them, publish no expiry date, as the domain expiry guide explains.
3. Turn on DNS monitoring where a mail or nameserver change would hurt, and the robots.txt, hosting and page text checks wherever a client's developer might ship a block or a move.
4. Recreate each notification from the alert rules. Page speed and server tests have no OctoPing equivalent, so keep them where they are.
5. Publish a status page for each client and add their email as a contact so the client hears about problems from you.

Who builds OctoPing

OctoPing is built by Axiolo, which uses it to watch its clients' marketing websites and landing pages. The checks, the client status pages and the monthly summaries are the ones Axiolo relies on for that work.

How it fits the price

Each plan covers a number of sites, and every site gets all the checks. White-labelled status pages are unlimited on all of them. Plans start at $19 a month for 20 sites. See pricing for the full list.

Every account starts with a 14-day free trial. No card required. Start your 14-day trial and add one client's sites to see it working.