Is there a free desktop website monitor?

Yes. DeskUptime's CLI is free — run npx github:mahope/deskuptime check https://yoursite.com from any terminal. Watch mode monitors up to 3 URLs with downtime alerts. Pro ($19) unlocks the desktop app (native GUI with system tray), notifications, and unlimited URLs.

What does DeskUptime check?

HTTP status + response time, SSL certificate validity + expiry countdown, and SHA-256 content hash comparison for change detection. It works on any URL regardless of CMS or hosting provider.

How is DeskUptime different from UptimeRobot or Pingdom?

DeskUptime runs on your machine, not a cloud server. This means no monthly subscription ($19 one-time vs $7-12/month), your data never leaves your computer, and you can check internal/staging URLs without exposing them. The trade-off is that monitoring stops when your computer is off, though the CLI watch mode can run on any always-on machine (Raspberry Pi, server, etc.)

Can I use DeskUptime in CI/CD?

Yes. The CLI is a standard Node.js script — it works in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or any Unix terminal. Exit codes are 0 for success, 1 for errors. Use it for pre-deploy URL checks, scheduled monitoring, or integration tests.

How do I download the DeskUptime desktop app?

Download the desktop app from GitHub Releases: https://github.com/mahope/deskuptime/releases — choose macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel) or Windows. The desktop app requires a Pro license key ($19) to unlock beyond the free 3-URL limit and activate system tray background monitoring.

Desktop Website Monitor: Kill Your $144/year SaaS Uptime Bill

Three monitoring services, same pain

If you run a small web agency, you probably have accounts on two or three uptime monitoring services:

UptimeRobot Pro ($7/month). Pingdom Standard ($12/month). Better Stack ($10/month). Maybe a dedicated SSL monitor and a separate content-change watcher on top.

That's $84–$144 per year. For what? A green dot in a dashboard and an email when your site is down. You're paying for the cloud hosting, the billing system, the user management — features you don't need when you're the only person monitoring your sites.

What DeskUptime does

DeskUptime is a desktop website monitor that checks three things:

Uptime — HTTP status code + response time + redirect tracking
SSL — certificate expiry countdown, issuer, cipher, protocol
Content changes — SHA-256 hash comparison between checks

It's universal. Works on WordPress, Shopify, Netlify, hand-coded HTML. It doesn't care what CMS you use, because it checks from the outside — exactly like a real visitor would.

Free CLI

The terminal version is free and requires no account:

$ npx github:mahope/deskuptime check https://example.com

✅ https://example.com
   Status:   200 OK
   Response: 85ms
   🔒 SSL:     63 days ✅
   — Content: 559 bytes

Watch mode runs in the background, stores state in ~/.deskuptime/state.json, and prints alerts on status changes — site goes down, SSL expires within 14 days, or content changes from the last check.

$ deskuptime watch https://mystore.com --interval 300

👀 Monitoring 1 URL(s), every 300s.

[10:15 AM] ✓ all monitored sites OK
[10:20 AM] 🚨 https://mystore.com is DOWN
[10:25 AM] ✅ https://mystore.com is UP (200)

The free tier monitors up to 3 URLs and uses a minimum 60-second interval. State persists across restarts — stop and resume anything.

What Pro ($19) adds

Feature	Free	Pro ($19)
URL checking	✓	✓
SSL expiry	✓	✓
Content change detection	✓	✓
CLI check + watch	✓ (3 URLs max)	✓ (unlimited)
Desktop app (system tray)	—	✓
Email & webhook alerts	—	✓
Lifetime updates	—	✓

Pro unlocks via a Lemon Squeezy license key — pay once, get a key, activate on up to 3 machines. No phoning home, no DRM, no subscription.

Why buy vs rent

The case is simple math:

Service	1 year	3 years
UptimeRobot Pro	$84	$252
Pingdom Standard	$144	$432
Better Uptime	$120	$360
DeskUptime Pro	$19	$19

A single DeskUptime license pays for itself in two months. After that, every month is savings.

Licensing & privacy

Pro license keys are processed through Lemon Squeezy — Stripe-backed payment processing with built-in EU VAT handling and US sales tax. Your purchase generates a license key instantly. Validate it locally — the app only phones home to verify the key once during activation.

The open-source engine is MIT licensed. Review it on GitHub.

Download the desktop app

The DeskUptime desktop app is built and ready. Download the latest release for your platform:

macOS (Apple Silicon):
DeskUptime-macOS-aarch64-apple-darwin.zip

macOS (Intel):
DeskUptime-macOS-x86_64-apple-darwin.zip

Windows:
DeskUptime_0.1.4_x64-setup.exe

Unzip and run. The app lives in your system tray — checks continue even when the window is closed. Pro license ($19) unlocks unlimited URLs, system tray background monitoring, and email/webhook alerts. Free tier monitors up to 3 URLs with no license key.

The CLI and watch mode are also ready today. Same engine, different interface:

See DeskUptime →