Some links on hetrixtools.com Uptime and Blacklist monitoring, and PagerDuty integration.
Posted by jpluimers on 2026/02/06
Historically I have been using Uptime Robot a lot, but in practice they are only good for HTTP/HTTPS uptime checking and TCP connection checking. SMTP checking requires more than just a valid TCP check which they can’t, so I took a look at hetrixtools.com.
They advertise being forever free when using a limit number of Uptime/Blacklist endpoints as per
[Wayback/Archive] Free Uptime Monitor & Blacklist Monitor- HetrixTools
- 15 Uptime Monitors • 1 Minute Interval
- 32 Blacklist Monitors • Checked Everyday
FREE Forever!
Unlike many other free uptime checking tools, their interval is better.
A thing to consider is that, like many online-first companies, they do not provide company details on either of these pages which you have to agree with when signing on for their service:
- [Wayback/Archive] Terms of Service – HetrixTools
- [Wayback/Archive] Privacy Policy – HetrixTools
- [Wayback/Archive] GDPR Compliance – HetrixTools
Luckily there is [Wayback/Archive] HetrixTools (@HetrixTools) / Twitter and [Wayback/Archive] About Us – HetrixTools
Who is HetrixTools?
This platform is operated under the HetrixTools, Inc. corporation.
Address:
9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 23419
Beaverton, Oregon, 97008-7105
United States
Phone: +1 (302) 613-0132 [we do not offer support over the phone]
Next to their plans, there is also a page where you can check a single DNS or IP address against blacklists using [Wayback/Archive] Blacklist Check – HetrixTools.
Back to their offerings:
- [Wayback/Archive] Free Uptime Monitor | Server Monitor – HetrixTools
- [Wayback/Archive] Free Blacklist Monitor | Blacklist Check – HetrixTools
They have far more notification methods than other offerings though you need to be aware that for the free plan various limitations apply, including this one:
Free accounts can only notify their own PushBullet Email Address. Please upgrade to a paid account to add more PushBullet Emails to your Contact List.
That is not documented at all, which would be nice if it appeared at [Wayback/Archive] PushBullet Notifications – HetrixTools or [Wayback/Archive] Free Accounts Inactivity – HetrixTools.
There is no App, but there is PagerDuty integration which might be interesting to try, so here are some links about it:
- [Wayback/Archive] PagerDuty Integration – HetrixTools
- [Wayback/Archive] PagerDuty | Real-Time Operations | Incident Response | On-Call | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] PagerDuty Mobile App
[Wayback/Archive] Pricing | PagerDuty
Free
- Start with on-call and incident response for small teams
- $0up to 5 users/month
- Unlimited API calls
- 650+ out-of-box integrations (Monitoring and chat)
- No maintenance windows ever
When initially selecting the free plan, what happens underneath is that you enter the trial period on the full plan.Only after the trial expires you are notified that you need to re-select the plan as you can see above. Otherwise when selecting the plans you get to see this:
Why can’t I select the Free plan?
You can’t select the Free plan because you’re currently using the following features that aren’t available on Free.
Free Account Limits:
- E.P.s: Limit 1 (You have 3)
Click on a feature to learn more about it. Once you’ve removed the data associated with these features, you will be able to select this plan. If you have any more questions contact our support team.
This is because of the non-obvious default behaviour that when adding services, also new escalation policies are added. The free plan only allows a single escalation policy. Per service, you can configure the used escalation policy. Set them all to the “Default”, then delete the other escalation policies and you can revert back to the Free-plan:Hey: It’s free, those limitations are OK for me.
- Editing the escalation plan for a service is a non-obvious series of steps starting at the service page, so here are the steps for configuring the Uptimerobot service to using the Default plan:
- Click “Settings” here:
- Click the “✏️Edit” button here:
- Click the “X” (which should have been dropdown arrow) or anywhere in the current policy name:
- Click on the “Default” policy name:
- Press the “Save Changes”
- Click “Settings” here:
- [Wayback/Archive] HetrixTools Integration Guide | PagerDuty (which is not fully accurate as it suggest the “New Relic” integration, use the above HetrixTools documentation link which is better as it uses the “API Fortress Connector” integration)
- [Wayback/Archive] Sign Up | Try PagerDuty Free for 14 Days | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Terms of Service | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Standard Service Level Agreement | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Acceptable Use Policy | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Data Processing Addendum | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Support and Success Policy | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Process Automation / Rundeck Enterprise Support Policies | PagerDuty
- [Wayback/Archive] Privacy Policy | PagerDuty
Note that UptimeRobot does not include PagerDuty in their free plan: [Wayback/Archive] Plans & Pricing | UptimeRobot
Via [Wayback/Archive] free smtp server uptime monitor – Google Search.
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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