Should you build your own Cronitor?
Heartbeat endpoint plus dead-man's-switch alerts
Heartbeat endpoint plus dead-man's-switch alerts. A hundred lines of code wearing a SaaS badge.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me a cron-job monitor like Cronitor / Healthchecks. Requirements:
- Each monitored job gets a unique ping URL (/ping/:uuid). The job's crontab
line just appends `&& curl -fsS <url>` · document this.
- Define jobs in SQLite via a basic-auth /admin page: name, expected period
(e.g. every 60 min) and grace time. Store every ping with timestamp.
- A scheduler loop checks each job: if now > last_ping + period + grace, the job
is LATE → send one alert webhook (Discord/Slack/Telegram, URL in .env) with
the job name and how late it is. Alert again on recovery. No alert spam ·
one per state change.
- /admin dashboard: each job as a row with green/amber/red status dot, last ping
time ("7 min ago"), and a 24h ping histogram as inline SVG.
- Support /ping/:uuid/fail for explicit failure reports with an optional body
shown in the alert.
- Python or Node, single process, systemd unit included.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running.
What would building your own look like?
xtheir status pages and team features
xalert routing (SMS, PagerDuty)
xcron expression insights
Prefer something ready-made?
Uptime KumaPush monitors and ordinary uptime checks under one very cheerful roof.Open source↗
HealthchecksCron phones home; this notices when it stops.Open source↗License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does Cronitor cost?
- Monthly billing
- $10/mo$10/mo
- Per year
- $120/yr$120/yr
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$52.26/moR$627/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Cronitor’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
Is it cheaper to build or buy Cronitor?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Cronitor?
Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Cronitor replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.
How much does Cronitor cost?
Cronitor costs about $10/mo (the paid plan, checked 10/20/2026), which is $120 per year. That’s what you save by replacing it with one prompt.
What do I lose by replacing Cronitor?
Honestly: their status pages and team features; alert routing (SMS, PagerDuty); cron expression insights. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Cronitor?
Yes: Uptime Kuma (Push monitors and ordinary uptime checks under one very cheerful roof.) Healthchecks (Cron phones home; this notices when it stops.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.