TunnelHQ vs UptimeRobot
UptimeRobot is a respected, mass-market uptime monitor that does HTTP, ping, port, and keyword checks at massive scale. TunnelHQ is a VPN-specific monitor that performs actual protocol handshakes on WireGuard, OpenVPN, VLESS, and 7+ other VPN protocols. They're aimed at different problems. Here's how to pick.
TL;DR
Pick UptimeRobot if: you're monitoring websites, APIs, SSL certificates, or generic TCP ports. UptimeRobot's free tier is generous (50 monitors with 5-minute intervals) and their interface is solid.
Pick TunnelHQ if: you're monitoring VPN servers and need to know whether the VPN actually works. Not just whether a port is open. TunnelHQ catches silent WireGuard handshake failures, expired OpenVPN certs, VLESS REALITY drift, and other issues invisible to port-only monitors.
The fundamental difference
UptimeRobot monitors that a TCP port is open or that an HTTP endpoint returns 2xx. That works perfectly for websites.
It doesn't work for VPNs. Here's the problem:
- A WireGuard server on UDP/51820 will appear "up" to any port probe. The kernel's WireGuard module responds to all UDP packets on that port. Even if every client's key has been invalidated, even if the preshared key expired. The port is still "up". UptimeRobot sees green. Your users see failed connections.
- An OpenVPN server on TCP/443 will complete a TLS handshake with any incoming connection. UptimeRobot sees green. But if the server cert expired, if TLS-Auth keys don't match, if the OpenVPN process crashed but systemd is restarting it. Users see "TLS error: TLS key negotiation failed to occur within 60 seconds". UptimeRobot still sees green.
- A VLESS server fronted by REALITY literally looks indistinguishable from a generic HTTPS site. UptimeRobot will get a 200 from the masquerade target. Meanwhile Xray has crashed and VLESS clients are failing.
TunnelHQ performs the actual VPN protocol handshake using your config's keys and peer details. Only a real successful handshake counts as "up". You know the VPN works, not just that the port answers.
Feature comparison
| TunnelHQ | UptimeRobot | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | VPN server monitoring | Generic website/API/TCP monitoring |
| WireGuard | Full handshake check | UDP port probe only |
| OpenVPN | Full TLS + control channel handshake | TCP/UDP port probe only |
| VLESS / VMess / Trojan / Shadowsocks | Native URI auto-detect and real handshake | Not supported. Generic TCP only |
| Hysteria2 / IKEv2 / OpenConnect | Native protocol-aware checks | Not supported |
| Subscription URL monitoring | Yes. Auto-detects rotation | Not supported |
| Free tier | 5 monitors, 10-minute intervals | 50 monitors, 5-minute intervals (more generous for HTTP) |
| Fastest interval | 1 minute (Business) | 30 seconds (paid plans) |
| Global check locations | US, EU, APAC, SA | 13+ regions. Strong coverage |
| REST API | 30–120 req/min by plan | 10 req/10s. Well-documented |
| Status pages | Included | Included |
| Team workspaces / RBAC | Yes (Owner/Admin/Manager/Viewer) | Team plan available |
When UptimeRobot is the better choice
UptimeRobot is a mature, well-liked product. Pick it if:
- You're monitoring websites, REST APIs, or generic services (not VPN-specific)
- You need 30-second intervals for a large fleet of HTTP endpoints
- Your VPN monitoring needs are "does the port answer?" and that's actually sufficient for your use case
- You want their status page ecosystem and broad integration library
When TunnelHQ is the better choice
Pick TunnelHQ if you've ever experienced any of these:
- Your uptime monitor said "up" but customers reported VPN outages
- You're running WireGuard, OpenVPN, VLESS, or other VPN protocols and want real handshake validation
- You operate a V2Ray/Xray subscription URL service and need config-rotation detection
- You've written custom scripts to do VPN health checks and want to stop maintaining them
- You need to prove uptime SLAs to VPN customers. Port pings don't cut it for that
Can I use both?
Yes. Many teams do. UptimeRobot for websites and APIs, TunnelHQ for VPN servers. Both have webhook alerting, so both can route into the same on-call system.