---
title: Monitor types
description: All nine monitor types at a glance, and how to pick the right one.
category: monitors
updated: 2026-10-12
tags: [monitors, types, overview]
---

A **monitor** is a single thing we check on a schedule. Pick the type that matches
what you want to watch.

![A monitor's detail panel, showing uptime over the last 30 checks, average response time, a bar for each recent check, a response-time chart for the last 30 days, and a configuration list with target, type, interval, status and alert thresholds](/img/docs/app-monitor-detail.png)
*Selecting any monitor opens its detail panel — recent checks, response-time
history, and the exact settings it's running with.*

| Type | Checks that… | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| [HTTP / website](/docs/monitors/http) | a URL is up and returns a healthy response | All plans |
| [Ping (ICMP)](/docs/monitors/ping) | a host or IP answers on the network | All plans |
| [SSL certificate](/docs/monitors/ssl) | a certificate is valid and not about to expire | All plans |
| [DNS](/docs/monitors/dns) | a domain resolves as expected | All plans |
| [TCP port](/docs/monitors/tcp-udp) | a TCP port (e.g. a database or mail port) accepts connections | All plans |
| [UDP port](/docs/monitors/tcp-udp) | a UDP service is reachable | Pro, Business, MSP |
| [Domain expiry](/docs/monitors/domain) | a domain registration isn't about to lapse | Pro, Business, MSP |
| [Heartbeat](/docs/monitors/heartbeat) | a scheduled job (cron, backup) actually ran | Pro, Business, MSP |
| [Transaction](/docs/monitors/transaction) | a multi-step flow — search, form, checkout — still works | Pro, Business, MSP |

## How to choose

- **Watching a website or API?** Use an **HTTP/S** monitor — it's the most common
  and confirms the whole request actually works, not just that the server is on.
- **Watching a server or device that has no web page** (a router, a game server, a
  database)? Use **Ping**, **TCP**, or **UDP** depending on what it exposes.
- **Want early warning before something expires?** Add **SSL** and **Domain** monitors
  — these save you from the outages nobody sees coming.
- **Watching something that runs *out*, like a nightly backup?** A **Heartbeat**
  monitor alerts you when the job *doesn't* check in.
- **Need more than one page to work?** A **Transaction** monitor walks a short
  sequence — search, contact form, add to cart — and tells you which step broke.

You can run as many monitors as your plan allows, and mix any types you like. See
[Plans & limits](/docs/account/plans-and-limits) for counts.

## Get started

- [Create your first monitor](/docs/getting-started/quickstart)
- [Choose a check interval](/docs/configuration/check-intervals)

## Related

- [Check regions](/docs/configuration/check-regions)
- [How alerts work](/docs/alerts/how-alerts-work)
- [Plans & limits](/docs/account/plans-and-limits)