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SiteGuardian vs Montastic. When 3 free monitors stop being enough.
Montastic is the lightweight SMB monitor. The free tier covers 3 monitors; Paid Pro is $8/month. SiteGuardian is the smallest paid product that probes and emails. The dividing line is whether 3 monitors are enough and whether a flat $19 bill beats $8.
- Montastic free caps at 3 monitors. SiteGuardian Starter ships 10 URLs on day one.
- Probe cadence. Both fire every five minutes on their lower tier.
- Public status page. Montastic ships one on paid; SiteGuardian deliberately does not.
- Per-URL slow threshold on SiteGuardian every plan.
- Built for one founder, one inbox, one storefront.
When Montastic is the right fit
Montastic is the right fit when 3 free monitors are enough and the $0 bill is the deciding factor.
When SiteGuardian is the right fit
SiteGuardian is the right fit when you have 4+ URLs to watch and one loud email per outage the second one stops.
Quick answer
SiteGuardian vs Montastic, in one paragraph.
SiteGuardian wins once 4+ URLs matter; Montastic wins when 3 free is enough. Montastic runs a free tier of 3 monitors on a 5-minute cadence and Pro at $8/mo annual for unlimited monitors with a status page and SSL add-on. SiteGuardian does not run a free tier; it ships uptime, SSL expiry, broken-link coverage, checkout-failure monitoring, and form-failure monitoring on every paid plan, in one loud email, with three flat tiers. Pick SiteGuardian when the storefront has more than three URLs under watch; pick Montastic when free is the deciding factor and three URLs covers it.
What is SiteGuardian vs Montastic?
SiteGuardian is a paid URL-side monitor with one loud email per outage and three flat tiers. Montastic is a free-and-paid uptime monitor with a free tier of 3 monitors on a 5-minute cadence and Pro at $8/mo annual for unlimited monitors with a status page and SSL add-on. The two overlap on uptime; SiteGuardian adds the four URL-side checks (broken-link coverage, checkout, forms, SSL) Montastic does not run on free.
Is Montastic better than SiteGuardian?
Montastic is better when free is the deciding factor, when 2-3 URLs is the entire watch list, or when the $0/mo bill is part of the buying criteria. SiteGuardian is better when the storefront has more than three URLs under watch or when the four URL-side checks ship in the same loud email as the uptime alert.
Which is cheaper for one storefront?
Montastic Free is $0 and the cheapest in absolute dollars, capped at 3 monitors. SiteGuardian Starter is $19 a month for one site and ten URLs. Montastic Pro is $8/mo annual. Across twelve months of paid use with more than three URLs under watch, SiteGuardian Starter is the simpler pick; Montastic Free is the pick when the URL list stays under three.
Does Montastic monitor checkout failures?
No. Montastic is an HTTP-ping product. It will tell you when your checkout URL returns 5xx, and that is all. It does not run a checkout-specific path probe and does not flag a checkout that is slow but technically up. SiteGuardian probes the checkout URL on the same cadence as your uptime checks and emails you when it goes slow or returns errors.
Does Montastic have a free tier?
Yes — Montastic Free runs 3 monitors on a 5-minute cadence. Paid Montastic Pro is $8/mo annual for unlimited monitors with a status page and SSL add-on. SiteGuardian does not run a free tier; it is paid from the first URL at $19 a month for Starter.
Feature-by-feature
Where each one differs, side by side.
The rows below are the axes a small shop should care about most when choosing a monitor. Anything outside this list is something most small shops do not use.
| Feature | SiteGuardian | Competitor |
|---|---|---|
| Probe cadence (paid) | Every minute (Pro) | Every 5 minutes |
| Probe cadence (free) | Every 5 minutes, up to 3 monitors | |
| Public status page | ||
| SSL expiry alerts | Add-on | |
| Custom slow threshold per URL | ||
| Pricing model (paid) | $19/mo Starter, $39/mo Pro, $299 once Lifetime | $8/mo Pro |
| Best fit | Small shop | Lightweight hobbyist |
| AI-powered root cause | Not yet available | Not yet available |
Pricing, line by line
Montastic’s real public pricing, next to SiteGuardian’s.
Each row is one tier the competitor publishes on their pricing page, plus SiteGuardian Starter / Pro / Lifetime. The verification trail below the table names the source URL and the date we re-checked it.
| Tier | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
SiteGuardianSiteGuardian Starter | $19/month | 1 site, 10 URLs, every-5-min probes |
SiteGuardianSiteGuardian Pro | $39/month | 3 sites, 50 URLs, every-1-min probes |
SiteGuardianSiteGuardian Lifetime | $299 once | 1 site, 50 URLs, every-5-min probes, all future updates included |
CompetitorMontastic Free | $0/month | 3 monitors, 5-min cadence |
CompetitorMontastic Pro | $8/month (annual) | Unlimited monitors, status page, SSL add-on |
Verification trail
- SiteGuardian — SiteGuardian Starter: https://siteguardian.app/pricingverified 2026-08-23
- SiteGuardian — SiteGuardian Pro: https://siteguardian.app/pricingverified 2026-08-23
- SiteGuardian — SiteGuardian Lifetime: https://siteguardian.app/pricingverified 2026-08-23
- Montastic — Montastic Free: https://www.montastic.com/pricingverified 2026-07-17
- Montastic — Montastic Pro: https://www.montastic.com/pricingverified 2026-07-17
Honest pros & cons
What each tool genuinely does well — and where it’s rough.
Montastic
Pros
- Real free tier with 3 monitors and 5-minute cadence.
- Public status page ships on paid.
- Lightweight product surface, small team behind it.
Rough edges
- 3-monitor ceiling on free; paid Pro is $8/mo but lacks per-URL slow thresholds.
- 5-minute cadence on Pro; no minute-by-minute surface.
SiteGuardian
Pros
- Per-URL slow thresholds on every plan.
- 10 URLs on day-one of Starter.
- Minutely cadence on Pro, paid from day one.
Rough edges
- No free tier; you pay for the watch from URL one.
- No public status page in the base product.
Who it’s for
The two buyer profiles — and which one you are.
Montastic is for
A hobbyist / one-shop operator with exactly 2-3 URLs to watch who is happy on a 5-min cadence.
SiteGuardian is for
A small Shopify / WordPress shop who has 4+ URLs and wants one loud email the minute the checkout stops.
The verdict
SiteGuardian when 4+ URLs matter; Montastic when 3 free is enough.
Pick SiteGuardian if
A small Shopify / WordPress shop with a home, /contact, /checkout, and maybe /about who wants one loud email per URL.
Pick Montastic if
A hobbyist / non-commercial site with 2-3 URLs to watch and a $0 bill requirement.
Frequently asked
The buying-time questions, answered flat.
Frequently asked
Mega comparison
See every comparison we wrote.
Nineteen alternatives, side by side in one decision matrix.
Related reading
Keep comparing.
Try it
If Montastic feels heavier than you need. Try SiteGuardian.
Starter is $19 a month. One site, ten URLs, every-five-minute checks. Pro is $39 a month. Three sites, fifty URLs, every-minute checks. Lifetime is $299 paid once and stays yours with every future update included.
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