Comparison

Kawze vs Uptime Kuma

Free, open-source, self-hosted uptime and status-page tool.

Uptime Kuma is a genuinely free, open-source project (MIT licensed) that you host yourself. It's a great option if you're comfortable running and maintaining your own infrastructure. Kawze is the managed alternative: no server to patch, back up, or keep online yourself.

Free plan, side by side

KawzeUptime Kuma
Cost Free, fully managed Free software - you pay for your own hosting and time to run it
Hosting/maintenance Fully managed - nothing to install or patch Self-hosted - you own uptime, backups, and security of the monitor itself
Multi-region checks Not currently offered Not built in - single-node by default
Programmatic API access Public API planned/in progress No official REST API for monitor management
Custom HTTP headers Free - custom HTTP headers on every monitor, every tier including Free Included - self-hosted, full feature set
Monitor tags/grouping Free - tags and groups for organising monitors, every tier including Free Included - self-hosted, full feature set
SMS alert credits 0 included - SMS credit top-ups purchasable on every tier, including Free Not itemised on their pricing page

Cheapest paid plan, side by side

KawzeUptime Kuma
Price £4.99/mo (Entry) No paid tier - ongoing hosting/maintenance cost instead
Fastest check interval 10 seconds (Max plan, £19.99/mo) 20 seconds (self-configurable, limited by your own server)
Support/updates Managed - patched and monitored by Kawze Self-maintained - you patch and monitor it
SMS alert credits 15 SMS credits/mo included (Entry) Not itemised on their pricing page
Money-back guarantee Not currently offered N/A - no paid tier, self-hosted

Worth knowing

  • No official managed/cloud version - you are responsible for keeping your monitoring instance itself online
  • Single-node SQLite by default, which has its own scaling limits
  • No official vendor support channel - troubleshooting relies on community forums and GitHub issues

Frequently asked questions

Is Uptime Kuma really free?

Yes, Uptime Kuma is free, open-source software (MIT licensed) - but you host and maintain the server yourself, so there's a real cost in time and your own hosting bill. Kawze is the fully managed alternative if you don't want to run that infrastructure.

What happens if my self-hosted Uptime Kuma instance goes down?

You're responsible for the uptime of the monitoring instance itself, since it's self-hosted. Kawze is a managed service, so there's nothing on your side to patch, back up, or keep online.

Try Kawze free

10 monitors, all HTTP methods and auth included, no credit card required.

Get started free

Figures on this page reflect publicly available pricing and feature information as of July 2026, sourced from github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma. Pricing and features change - please verify directly with Uptime Kuma before making a decision. Kawze figures reflect our current published pricing at kawze.com/pricing.