TunnelHQ vs Uptime Kuma
Both tools monitor servers. They solve different problems. Uptime Kuma is an excellent open-source, self-hosted uptime monitor with generic protocol support. TunnelHQ is a managed SaaS built specifically for VPN server fleets with 10+ built-in protocol checks. This page is an honest comparison — pick the one that fits.
TL;DR
Pick Uptime Kuma if: you're comfortable running Docker, you have time to write custom protocol checks, your monitoring budget is effectively $0, and you're monitoring generic HTTP/TCP endpoints.
Pick TunnelHQ if: you're running VPN servers across multiple protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN, VLESS, Trojan, etc.), you want zero setup, you need a REST API with real rate limits, and you don't want to run another piece of infrastructure just to monitor your other infrastructure.
Feature comparison
| TunnelHQ | Uptime Kuma | |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Managed SaaS. Sign up → monitoring in 2 minutes. | Self-hosted. Docker or Node.js install. You maintain the host, DB backups, SSL. |
| Cost | Free for 5 monitors. Paid plans $12–$99/mo. | Free (open source). Server + bandwidth costs you ~$5–$20/mo plus time. |
| Built-in VPN protocol checks | 10+: WireGuard, OpenVPN, VLESS, VMess, Trojan, Shadowsocks, Hysteria2, IKEv2, OpenConnect, AmneziaWG. | None built in. HTTP, TCP, ping, DNS. VPN checks require custom scripts or HTTP proxies. |
| URI auto-detect | Paste vless://, vmess://, trojan://, etc. — protocol identified automatically. |
Not supported. You manually configure each monitor type. |
| Subscription URL monitoring | Yes — auto-detects config rotation, new servers, protocol swaps. | Not supported. |
| Check interval | 1 min (Business) to 10 min (Free). | User-defined, typically 20s–5min depending on server load. |
| Global check nodes | US, EU, APAC, SA — multi-region. | Single instance = single region. Multi-region requires multiple Kuma installs. |
| Alerts | Email, Slack, Telegram, Discord, webhook. Sub-second delivery on state change. | 90+ notification integrations out of the box. Excellent coverage. |
| REST API | Documented, versioned, rate-limited by plan (30–120 req/min). | Limited API surface. Community has built wrappers but it's not a first-class feature. |
| Team workspaces | Organizations → Projects → Monitors. Role-based access with audit logs. | Basic — single admin plus optional read-only users in recent versions. |
| Status page | Included on all plans. | Included (well-regarded). |
| Data retention | 7 days (Free) to 2 years (Business). | Unlimited (your disk, your problem). |
| You maintain | Nothing. We ship updates, patch security, handle scale. | Everything: OS updates, Docker, TLS cert renewal, DB backups, upgrades. |
When Uptime Kuma is the right call
Uptime Kuma is genuinely great software. Louis Lam has built one of the most polished open-source uptime monitors, and the community has contributed hundreds of notification integrations. If your monitoring needs are:
- Generic HTTP/TCP/ping/DNS checks
- A handful of servers (say, less than 50)
- A workload where you'll invest time writing custom protocol scripts if needed
- A strong preference for self-hosting for data residency or cost reasons
Then Uptime Kuma is excellent. Run it in Docker, point it at your targets, done.
When TunnelHQ is the right call
TunnelHQ exists because generic uptime monitors don't understand VPN protocols. If you're running VPN servers and your monitoring needs are:
- Multiple VPN protocols in one fleet (WireGuard + OpenVPN + VLESS + …)
- Real handshake-level checks, not just port probes
- Subscription URL monitoring for V2Ray/Xray-style config bundles
- Multi-region checks to catch regional outages and BGP issues
- A real REST API you'll integrate into other tooling
- Team workspaces with audit logs (compliance matters)
- Zero maintenance — you'd rather monitor VPNs than maintain the monitor
Then TunnelHQ pays for itself the first time it catches a silent WireGuard handshake failure or a REALITY key drift that a port-only monitor would miss.
"Can't I just run Uptime Kuma and write VPN check scripts?"
Yes. But each protocol is its own rabbit hole:
- WireGuard handshake requires Curve25519 + ChaCha20-Poly1305, noise protocol framework
- OpenVPN handshake needs TLS negotiation + HMAC verification + cipher matching
- VLESS needs XTLS/Vision and REALITY support
- Hysteria2 is QUIC-based, not TCP
- IKEv2 uses IPsec and requires privileged networking
That's a multi-week engineering project, with ongoing maintenance as protocols evolve. TunnelHQ has built and continuously maintains this so you don't have to.
Migration
If you're coming from Uptime Kuma, TunnelHQ doesn't yet have a one-click import (roadmap item). For now:
- Export your Uptime Kuma monitor list from
/settings/general - Create equivalent monitors in TunnelHQ — for generic HTTP/TCP use the HTTP monitor type, for VPN configs paste the .conf / URI
- The TunnelHQ REST API lets you bulk-create via
POST /api/v1/monitors