Monitor types overview
StatusGator provides several types of monitors designed for different monitoring needs. Choosing the correct monitor ensures you receive accurate alerts and meaningful status information.
This guide explains the differences between Service, Website, Ping, and Custom monitors, how each one determines status, and when to use each type.
Quick comparison
Monitor Type | What it Monitors | How Status Is Determined | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Monitor | Third-party SaaS services | Provider status pages + StatusGator Early Warning System | Monitoring AWS, Microsoft 365, GitHub, etc. |
| Website Monitor | Websites and API endpoints | HTTP checks evaluated against configured rules | Monitoring websites, web apps, APIs |
| Ping Monitor | Network hosts or devices | ICMP ping checks evaluated against configured rules | Monitoring servers and infrastructure |
| Custom Monitor | Manually managed service status | User-created incidents and maintenance | Communicating status of your own systems |
Service monitor
A Service Monitor tracks the operational status of third-party services and SaaS providers.
StatusGator monitors official provider status pages and automatically detects incidents and maintenance events affecting those services.
Service monitors are designed for tracking dependencies such as:
- AWS
- Microsoft 365
- GitHub
- Cloudflare
- Zoom
- Slack
- Other cloud and SaaS providers
When the provider reports an incident or maintenance event, StatusGator automatically creates an incident and updates the monitor status.
Note:
While many providers publish official status pages, some do not. StatusGator can still detect outages using our Early Warning System, which identifies service disruptions even when no public status page exists.
Service monitors are ideal for gaining visibility into the reliability of external services your systems depend on.
Website monitor
A Website Monitor checks whether a specific website or API endpoint is reachable and responding correctly.
StatusGator periodically sends HTTP requests to the URL and evaluates the response based on the monitoring settings you configure.
A website may be considered down if it fails the configured checks, such as:
- Returning an unexpected HTTP response code
- Failing to respond within the configured timeout
- Not returning expected content (when content checks are enabled)
- Failing checks from the configured monitoring locations
Alerts are triggered according to your settings, including:
- Selected monitoring locations
- Whether alerts occur when any location fails or all locations fail
- The number of retry attempts before triggering an alert
Website monitors are best for monitoring:
- Public websites
- Web applications
- API endpoints
- Login pages
- Landing pages
Example:
https://example.com
StatusGator will regularly test the URL and alert you if it fails the configured availability checks.
Ping monitor
A Ping Monitor checks whether a server or device is reachable on the network using ICMP ping requests.
StatusGator periodically sends ping requests to the configured host or IP address and evaluates the response based on the monitoring settings you configure.
A host may be considered down if it fails the configured checks, such as:
- Not responding to ICMP ping requests
- Failing to respond within the configured timeout
- Failing checks from the configured monitoring locations
Alerts are triggered according to your settings, including:
- Selected monitoring locations
- Whether alerts occur when any location fails or all locations fail
- The number of retry attempts before triggering an alert
Ping monitors are commonly used for monitoring:
- Servers
- Network infrastructure
- Routers and switches
- Internal systems or devices
Example:
192.168.1.10
StatusGator will regularly ping the host and alert you if it fails the configured connectivity checks.
Custom monitor
A Custom Monitor allows you to manually manage the status of a service or system.
Unlike other monitor types, custom monitors do not perform automated checks. Instead, you manually create and manage incidents and maintenance events.
This is useful when you want to communicate the status of systems that cannot be automatically monitored or when you want full control over status reporting.
Common uses include:
- Reporting outages for your own SaaS product
- Communicating internal incidents
- Publishing maintenance events
- Managing the status of internal systems or services
With custom monitors, you decide when an incident begins, provide updates, and resolve the incident when the issue is fixed.
Which monitor should I use?
Use this quick guide:
- Monitoring third-party SaaS providers → Service Monitor
- Monitoring your website or API → Website Monitor
- Monitoring whether a server is reachable → Ping Monitor
- Manually reporting outages or maintenance → Custom Monitor
If you're unsure which monitor type best fits your needs, contact support and we’ll help you choose the right option.