Building on third-party APIs? You need to know when they're down. But if you're working on side projects, startups, or just don't have budget for monitoring tools, paid services can feel out of reach.
Good news: you don't need to spend money to monitor API status. Here's how to set up free API monitoring that actually works.
Why You Need API Status Monitoring
If your app depends on Stripe for payments, Cloudflare for CDN, or AWS for infrastructure, you're only as reliable as your weakest dependency. When a third-party API goes down:
- Your users see errors
- Your support tickets spike
- You're left debugging your own code, only to discover the issue is upstream
Monitoring API status lets you distinguish between "my code is broken" and "their API is down" in seconds, not hours.
Method 1: RSS Feeds (Zero Setup, Works Everywhere)
Best for: Developers who already use an RSS reader
Cost: Free
Effort: 30 seconds
RSS is the most underrated monitoring tool. Most status monitoring services publish RSS feeds that update in real-time when incidents occur.
How to Set It Up
Pick an RSS reader: Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire (macOS), or even your email client.
Subscribe to RSS feeds for the services you depend on:
Stripe: https://status.stripe.com/feed
Cloudflare: https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/history.rss
GitHub: https://www.githubstatus.com/history.rss
Vercel: https://www.vercel-status.com/history.rss
- Add an aggregator for multi-service monitoring:
API Status Check (100+ services):
https://apistatuscheck.com/rss
Why This Works
- Instant notifications: Most RSS readers support push notifications
- No accounts needed: Just paste the URL
- Works offline: Readers cache feed history
- Cross-platform: Works on desktop, mobile, web
Pro Tip
Filter your RSS reader to only show "incidents" or "outages" so you're not flooded with "All Systems Operational" updates.
Method 2: Status Badges in Your README
Best for: Open source projects and internal dashboards
Cost: Free
Effort: 1 minute
Status badges give you at-a-glance visibility of your dependencies directly in GitHub READMEs, documentation, or internal wikis.
How to Add Status Badges
API Status Check provides embeddable badges for 100+ services:
Where to Use Them
- GitHub README: Show dependency health status
- Internal dashboards: Embed in Notion, Confluence, or wikis
- Documentation: Let users see if issues are upstream
Badges update in real-time. Green = operational, yellow = degraded, red = outage.
Method 3: Free Monitoring Tools Comparison
UptimeRobot
Free tier: 50 monitors, 5-minute check intervals
Best for: Monitoring your own endpoints
What you get:
- HTTP/HTTPS/Ping monitoring
- Keyword monitoring (check if specific text appears)
- Email/SMS/Slack alerts
- Public status pages
Limitations:
- 5-minute intervals (paid = 1 minute)
- Only monitors what you configure
StatusCake
Free tier: Unlimited tests, 5-minute intervals
Best for: Website uptime monitoring
What you get:
- Unlimited uptime tests
- Email alerts
- SSL certificate monitoring
- Domain expiry monitoring
Limitations:
- 5-minute check intervals
- Limited locations on free tier
- Ads in reports
API Status Check (Browse + RSS)
Free tier: Browse 100+ services, RSS feeds, status badges
Best for: Monitoring third-party SaaS/APIs without configuration
What you get:
- Real-time status for 100+ services
- RSS feeds (no account needed)
- Status badges for embedding
- Incident history
Limitations:
- No custom alerts on free tier (RSS only)
- Third-party services only (not your own endpoints)
Method 4: DIY with Cron + curl (For the Hackers)
Best for: Developers who want full control
Cost: Free (if you already have a server)
Effort: 10 minutes
Basic Health Check Script
#!/bin/bash
# health-check.sh
SERVICES=(
"https://api.stripe.com/healthcheck"
"https://api.github.com/status"
"https://cloudflare.com"
)
for url in "${SERVICES[@]}"; do
status=$(curl -o /dev/null -s -w "%{http_code}" "$url")
if [ "$status" -ne 200 ]; then
echo "⚠️ ALERT: $url returned $status"
# Send alert (email, Slack, Discord webhook, etc.)
fi
done
Schedule with Cron
# Run every 5 minutes
*/5 * * * * /path/to/health-check.sh
Advanced: Send Alerts to Discord
# Add to your health-check.sh
DISCORD_WEBHOOK="https://discord.com/api/webhooks/YOUR_WEBHOOK"
curl -X POST "$DISCORD_WEBHOOK" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"content\": \"⚠️ $url is down (HTTP $status)\"}"
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Total control
- No third-party dependencies
- Free if you have a server
Cons:
- Requires a server that's always online
- You have to maintain the scripts
- Single point of failure
When to Upgrade to Paid Monitoring
Free monitoring is great for:
- Side projects and early-stage startups
- Personal use
- Supplementing paid tools
Consider upgrading when:
- You need sub-minute checks
- You're generating revenue
- You need alerting (RSS feeds are passive)
- You monitor multiple regions
- You want historical data and SLA tracking
Quick Comparison: Free Options
| Tool | What It Monitors | Setup Time | Alerts |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSS Feeds | Third-party services | 30 seconds | Via RSS reader |
| Status Badges | Third-party services | 1 minute | Visual only |
| UptimeRobot | Your own endpoints | 5 minutes | Email, Slack, SMS |
| StatusCake | Your own endpoints | 5 minutes | |
| API Status Check | 100+ third-party services | None | RSS feeds |
| DIY cron | Whatever you configure | 10-30 min | Custom |
Recommended Stack
Here's the zero-cost monitoring stack I'd recommend:
- API Status Check (RSS feed) → Monitor third-party APIs
- UptimeRobot (free tier) → Monitor your own endpoints
- Status badges in README → Visual indicators
- DIY cron script (optional) → Custom checks
Total cost: $0/month
The Bottom Line
You don't need to pay for monitoring when you're just getting started. RSS feeds, status badges, and free-tier tools like UptimeRobot give you 90% of what paid services offer — for free.
Start with free monitoring. Upgrade when downtime starts costing you real money.
Free monitoring resources:
Happy monitoring! 🚀
Need faster checks and Slack/Discord alerts? Check out API Status Check's paid plans starting at $9/month.
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