MainWP Uptime Monitoring
MainWP Uptime Monitoring checks every WordPress site you manage from your MainWP Dashboard and emails you when a site goes down and when it comes back up. Your Dashboard runs the checks itself, with no outside monitoring service to sign up for, and keeps each site’s uptime and response time history.
It’s part of the free MainWP Core, built for agencies, freelancers and developers who look after many client sites.
“The ability to bulk update plugins and themes saves hours of manual work, while the built-in uptime and performance monitoring ensure your sites run smoothly.”
Watching client sites for downtime by hand means loading each site to see that it responds, keeping a separate uptime service in step with your site list, and pulling response times together when a client asks how their site has been doing. MainWP Uptime Monitoring brings that work into your MainWP Dashboard.
| Uptime checks on each site today | With MainWP Uptime Monitoring |
|---|---|
| Load each site to see that it responds | Sites > Monitoring lists every monitor with its status, status code, last 24 hours and last check time. |
| Hear about an outage from the client | MainWP emails you when a site goes down, and again when it’s back up. |
| Add each new site to a separate uptime service | Every site you add to your MainWP Dashboard gets its own monitor with your global settings. |
| Open the shop or booking page to check it loads | Sub-monitors check the pages you pick on each site, and Keyword Monitoring confirms a word you choose is on the page. |
| Collect uptime numbers for a client | Each site’s Uptime Monitoring widget shows its uptime ratio and response times for the last 24 hours, 7, 30 or 365 days. |
What does MainWP Uptime Monitoring include?
MainWP Uptime Monitoring runs from your MainWP Dashboard. Your Dashboard sends each check straight to the site’s address on the schedule you set, and records every result.
| Feature | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| HTTP(s), Ping and Keyword monitors | Check that each site responds, and use Keyword Monitoring to confirm a word you choose appears on the page. |
| Check interval and timeout | Check each site as often as every 5 minutes or as rarely as once a day, with a timeout from 30 seconds to no limit. |
| Down confirmation and status codes | MainWP confirms a site is down before it alerts you, and you choose which HTTP codes count as up, 200 to 206 by default. |
| Down and recovery emails | The Uptime Monitoring Email goes to the addresses you choose when a site goes down and when it comes back up. |
| Sub-monitors | Check extra pages on a site, such as its shop, booking or contact page. |
| Uptime history | See each site’s current status, incidents, uptime ratio and its average, minimum and maximum response times. |
| Per-site settings | Give any site its own monitor type, interval, timeout and status codes, or let it use your global settings. |
| Page cache bypass | Attempt to bypass page cache adds cache-control headers and a unique cache-busting value to each check. |
| Data retention | Keep monitoring history for 30, 90, 180 or 365 days, or keep it forever. |
| Site Health Monitoring | Get an email when a site’s WordPress Site Health drops below the threshold you set. |
How does MainWP alert you when a client site goes down?
When a check confirms a site is down, MainWP sends the Uptime Monitoring Email, and sends another when the site is back up. Each email has the monitor URL, the status code and the time of the event.
- Recipients: send alerts to your notification address, or to several addresses separated by commas, such as your support inbox.
- Your wording: edit the subject and heading, and add
[uptime.status]to put UP or DOWN in the subject line. - At a glance: the Uptime Monitoring widget on your Overview counts your monitors that are up and down, with a View Monitors button.
- Check Now: run a check on any monitor right away from Sites > Monitoring.
How much uptime history does MainWP keep for each site?
Each site’s Overview has an Uptime Monitoring widget with its current status and status code, incidents, uptime ratio and a response time chart with average, minimum and maximum times. Switch between the last 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days and 365 days.
MainWP keeps 180 days of monitoring history by default. Set Monitoring data retention to 30, 90 or 365 days, or keep it forever.
To share uptime with clients, the MainWP Pro Reports add-on, part of MainWP Pro, adds uptime to your client reports: uptime for the last 7, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days, incident counts and response times.
Can MainWP check a client’s shop or booking page, beyond the homepage?
Yes. Sub-monitors check extra paths on a site, such as /checkout/ or /book-now/. Open the site’s Settings tab, expand Site Monitoring Settings, click Create Sub-Monitor and enter the path.
In the same section, any site can override your global settings, and every option keeps Use global setting as a choice:
- Monitor type: switch a site to Keyword Monitoring and enter the word to look for.
- Interval and timeout: check a busy shop every 5 minutes and a brochure site once an hour.
- Up HTTP codes: set the status codes that count as up for that site.
Does MainWP watch WordPress Site Health too?
Yes. Site Health Monitoring scores each site’s WordPress Site Health results when the site syncs. Turn on Enable site health monitoring in Monitoring Settings and pick Good or Should be improved as the threshold. MainWP sends the Site Health Monitoring Email when a site drops below it, and the Monitoring page adds a Site Health column next to each site’s uptime.
With Check site HTTP response after update on, MainWP also checks that each site responds once its MainWP Updates finish.
Can AI assistants and scripts check uptime in MainWP?
Yes. MainWP’s site check abilities use your uptime monitors, and the MainWP REST API has monitor endpoints, so AI assistants and scripts check the same monitors as your MainWP Dashboard.
- AI assistants: Claude and other AI tools connect through MainWP MCP and can check whether your sites are up.
- Scripts: MainWP Control runs
mainwpcontrol abilities run check-sites-v1, and the REST API lists monitors, returns their history and incidents, and runs a check on demand.
Is MainWP Uptime Monitoring right for your sites?
MainWP Uptime Monitoring works on every MainWP Dashboard. Here’s what you need:
| What you need | Details |
|---|---|
| License | MainWP Core, which is free. Uptime Monitoring comes with your MainWP Dashboard, with no add-on, no third-party account and no limit on sites. |
| MainWP Dashboard | WordPress 6.2 or later and PHP 8.3 or later, with WP-Cron or a server cron job running so checks start on schedule. |
| Child sites | The MainWP Child plugin connected on each site you monitor. |
| Large networks | Set how many checks run at once with Maximum simultaneous uptime monitoring requests in Advanced Settings, from 1 to 100. |
| An uptime service you already use | The free MainWP Advanced Uptime Monitor add-on brings your Uptime Robot, Better Uptime, NodePing or Site24x7 monitors into your MainWP Dashboard. |
| Client reports | MainWP Pro Reports, part of MainWP Pro, adds uptime to your reports. |
How do you set up MainWP Uptime Monitoring?
On a new MainWP Dashboard, the Quick Setup Wizard turns uptime monitoring on with an hourly check. To set it up or adjust it, follow these steps in your MainWP Dashboard:
- Install the free MainWP Dashboard plugin and connect your sites with the MainWP Child plugin.
- Open MainWP Settings > Monitoring Settings, turn on Enable uptime monitoring, choose the monitor type, interval and timeout, and click Save Settings.
- Open MainWP Settings > Email Settings, edit the Uptime Monitoring Email and add your recipients.
- For a site that needs its own settings or extra pages, open its Settings tab and expand Site Monitoring Settings.
- Open Sites > Monitoring to see every monitor, and use Check Now for an instant check.
The MainWP Uptime Monitoring guide covers every setting.
MainWP Uptime Monitoring FAQ
Is MainWP Uptime Monitoring free?
Yes. MainWP Uptime Monitoring is part of the free MainWP Core, with no add-on, no third-party account and no limit on sites. See everything MainWP includes for free.
Can MainWP replace a separate uptime service like Uptime Robot?
Yes. Your MainWP Dashboard runs the checks itself, so every site you manage is covered from one place. If you already use Uptime Robot, Better Uptime, NodePing or Site24x7, the free MainWP Advanced Uptime Monitor add-on brings those monitors into your Dashboard.
What do child sites need for MainWP Uptime Monitoring?
Each site needs the MainWP Child plugin, connected to your MainWP Dashboard. Every site you add gets its own monitor with your global settings.
How often does MainWP check your sites?
As often as every 5 minutes or as rarely as once a day. The default is once an hour, and any site can use its own interval.
Who gets the uptime alerts?
Your MainWP Dashboard’s notification address gets them by default. Add more addresses, separated by commas, in the Uptime Monitoring Email settings.
How do you check a site’s status right away?
Open Sites > Monitoring and choose Check Now for the monitor. MainWP checks the site immediately and updates its status.
How do you turn off uptime monitoring in MainWP?
Turn off Enable uptime monitoring in Monitoring Settings for all sites, or set it to Disable in a site’s Site Monitoring Settings to pause that site alone.
Where can you get help with MainWP Uptime Monitoring?
The MainWP Uptime Monitoring guide covers every setting, email and per-site option. The Uptime Monitoring video gives a one-minute overview.