An Uptime Kuma alternative that lives on your desktop
Uptime Kuma watches your URLs around the clock. ServerShelf manages the servers behind them from your desktop.
Uptime Kuma is a free, open-source monitor you host yourself: HTTP, TCP, keyword, JSON, ping, DNS, push and Docker monitors, 90-plus notification services, status pages and two-factor login. It runs as a Docker container or a Node.js process on a server that does not go to sleep.
ServerShelf is a desktop app. Its uptime checks, TLS tracking and hardware telemetry run while the app is open, and they sit next to the inventory, the SSH terminal, pending updates, Docker control and AI log triage. One purchase, no account, encrypted local database.
Download & start the free 7-day trial
Do I need an Uptime Kuma alternative at all?
Probably not as a replacement. If you need a public status page and checks that run while your laptop is closed, Uptime Kuma is the right tool and it is free. ServerShelf answers a different question: what is the state of the machines, and what do I do about it. It imports servers from twelve cloud providers, scans them over SSH, lists pending updates and runs patches after a dry run, opens a terminal, restarts containers, checks certificates with a real TLS handshake and hands log excerpts to the AI provider of your choice. The uptime checks are there so the failure and the fix are one click apart. A heartbeat ping to Healthchecks, Cronitor or an ntfy topic tells you when the app itself stopped checking.
ServerShelf vs Uptime Kuma
| Feature | ServerShelf | Uptime Kuma |
|---|---|---|
| Runs as | Desktop app on macOS, Windows, Linux | Self-hosted service, Docker or Node.js |
| Checks run 24/7 | ~ while the app is open; heartbeat to an external service covers the gap | ✓ |
| Check types | HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, ping, DNS, SMTP, IMAP, POP3, SSH script, log pattern; keyword, number and change rules | HTTP, TCP, keyword, JSON query, WebSocket, ping, DNS, push, Docker, Steam |
| Confirmation and recovery thresholds, pause | ✓ | ✓ |
| TLS certificate expiry | ✓ every 6 hours, SAN list and issuer | ✓ |
| Notifications | Native, email, ntfy, Slack, Discord, Pushover, webhook, sound, speech | 90+ services |
| Public status page | ~ CSV / HTML report, saved locally | ✓ |
| Server metrics over SSH (CPU, RAM, disk, temperatures, GPU) | ✓ no agent | — |
| Docker | Start, stop, restart, create, live logs | Container up/down monitor |
| Server inventory & cloud import | ✓ 12 providers | — |
| Agentless scan: OS, packages, services, ports | ✓ | — |
| Pending updates & patch runs | ✓ | — |
| SSH terminal & snippets | ✓ | — |
| AI log triage & chat | ✓ your own key, 7 providers | — |
| Mobile | iOS & Android companion with push | ~ browser |
| Open source | — | ✓ MIT |
| Price | €39 once | Free |
✓ = yes · — = no · ~ = limited or paid add-on. As of September 2026, best-effort from public product pages and documentation; features may change.
Keep Uptime Kuma or switch?
Keep Uptime Kuma for anything that must be watched while you sleep, for status pages, and for the notification service you already use. It is excellent at that and costs nothing.
Add ServerShelf when a red monitor should turn into a fix: open the server, read the log with your AI key, restart the container, apply the pending update, all from one window. Kuma tells you the site is down; ServerShelf shows you why and lets you act.
Try it on your own servers
ServerShelf has a 7-day trial, no credit card required. Add a few of your servers, run a scan and compare what you see with the tool you use today.
Download & start the free trial See the full comparison hub
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