IsDown vs Downdetector: The best Downdetector alternative
Looking for Downdetector alternatives? Compare IsDown and Downdetector to make the right choice for your organization's outage monitoring needs.
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Quick Comparison at a Glance
Here are the main differences between IsDown's official status page monitoring and Downdetector's crowdsourced approach:
| Feature |  |
Downdetector |
|---|---|---|
| Data Source | Official vendor status pages | User-submitted reports |
| Information Detail | Full incident details, titles, descriptions | Report volume & basic status |
| Primary Focus | Focused on B2B services | Focused on B2C services |
| Data Reliability | ✅ Verified official sources | ⚠️ User-generated (can vary) |
| Internal Status Pages | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| API Access | ✅ Full API included | Enterprise plan only |
| Team Notifications | ✅ Multi-channel (Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, etc.) | Email & RSS (Enterprise plan) |
| Business Integrations | ✅ Datadog, PagerDuty, API, Email, Slack, Teams | API, RSS, Email |
| Pricing Transparency | ✅ Public pricing from $37/mo | Contact for quote (varies by client) |
| Mobile App | Web-based (mobile responsive) | ✅ Native app (merged with Speedtest) |
| Best For | IT teams, SREs, DevOps | General consumers |
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Key Differences: Official Monitoring vs Crowdsourced Detection
IsDown and Downdetector serve different needs with fundamentally different approaches to outage detection.
Official Status Pages vs Crowdsourced Reports
IsDown monitors official vendor status pages, providing verified information with full incident details, titles, and descriptions. Downdetector relies on large volumes of user-submitted reports to detect issues. For businesses needing reliable, detailed information, IsDown's official source approach ensures accuracy and completeness.
Detailed Outage Information
IsDown provides comprehensive incident details directly from vendors: titles, descriptions, affected components, and timeline updates. Downdetector shows report volume and basic status. For IT managers who need to understand the specific impact and scope of issues, IsDown delivers the business context required for informed decision-making.
Built for IT Teams, SREs, and DevOps
IsDown is designed for IT teams, DevOps, and on-call teams with features like internal status pages, team notifications via Slack/Teams/PagerDuty, and integration with monitoring tools. Downdetector focuses on consumer-facing services with a mobile app experience (now merged with Speedtest by Ookla).
Reliability: Official vs User-Generated
IsDown pulls verified data directly from official vendor status pages, ensuring accuracy and reducing false positives. Downdetector relies on user-generated reports which can sometimes be inaccurate or delayed, and requires sufficient report volume to detect issues. For businesses requiring reliable alerts, official sources provide greater confidence.
Internal Status Pages
IsDown enables you to create internal status pages for your teams and clients, showing only the services relevant to them. You can brand these pages, set up SSO protection, and provide stakeholders with a single source of truth. Downdetector does not offer this capability—it's purely an outage detection service.
Integrations & API Access
IsDown includes full API access in all plans and integrates with your existing monitoring stack: Datadog, PagerDuty, Slack, Microsoft Teams, FireHydrant, Incident.io, and webhooks. Downdetector requires an Enterprise plan (custom pricing) for API access and only offers Datadog integration. For teams building custom workflows or needing multiple integrations, IsDown provides better value.
Pricing: Transparent vs Custom Quotes
IsDown offers transparent public pricing starting at $37/month ($444/year) with clear plan tiers. Downdetector requires contacting sales for Enterprise pricing, which varies by client. For teams needing dashboards, API access, and notifications, Downdetector requires their paid Enterprise plan. IsDown includes these features at lower, publicly-listed price points.
Broad vs Specific Coverage
Downdetector excels at showing widespread consumer outages across popular services based on report volume. IsDown monitors 4,500+ services with focus on business-critical platforms, providing specific, actionable information from official sources. For general consumer awareness, Downdetector works well. For business operations, IsDown provides the depth needed.
Real-Time Official Updates
IsDown checks official status pages every 2-5 minutes and includes early warning detection that can alert you 30+ minutes before official updates. You get the vendor's own assessment and timeline. Downdetector requires sufficient user report volume to detect issues, which may lag behind official announcements for some services.
Making Your Decision
Choose IsDown If You:
- Need detailed status information from official vendor sources
- Want to create internal status pages for teams and clients
- Require reliable, non-crowdsourced data for business decisions
- Need integrations with Datadog, PagerDuty, Slack, Teams
- Are an IT team, DevOps engineer, or on-call team member
- Want full incident details: titles, descriptions, affected components
- Want transparent pricing without requiring sales calls
- Need API access without paying enterprise-level fees
Choose Downdetector If You:
- Need a broad overview of consumer service outages
- Want to quickly see if a problem is widespread vs isolated
- Prefer mobile app experience (merged with Speedtest app)
- Are a general consumer looking for quick status updates
- User-generated report data is sufficient for your needs
- Only need basic free features (no API, dashboards, or business alerts)
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the main difference between IsDown and Downdetector?
IsDown monitors official vendor status pages to provide detailed, verified incident information directly from the source. Downdetector uses large volumes of user-submitted reports to detect widespread outages. For businesses needing reliable, detailed information, IsDown's official source approach provides greater accuracy and actionable details.
Why would I choose IsDown over Downdetector for my business?
IsDown is built for IT teams, providing detailed incident information (titles, descriptions, affected components), internal status page creation, team notifications via Slack/Teams/PagerDuty, and integrations with monitoring tools like Datadog. Downdetector focuses on consumer-facing quick status checks based on user reports.
Is IsDown's data more reliable than Downdetector's crowdsourced reports?
Yes. IsDown pulls verified data directly from official vendor status pages, ensuring accuracy and completeness. Downdetector relies on user-generated reports which can sometimes be inaccurate, delayed, or require sufficient volume to detect issues. For IT teams requiring reliable alerts and detailed information about outages, official sources provide greater confidence.
Can I create internal status pages with IsDown like I would with Downdetector?
IsDown enables you to create branded internal status pages for your teams and clients—Downdetector does not offer this feature. With IsDown, you can show only relevant services to specific stakeholders, set up SSO protection, customize branding, and provide a single source of truth for your organization's third-party service status.
Does IsDown have a mobile app like Downdetector?
IsDown is web-based and fully mobile-responsive, accessible from any device browser. Downdetector offers a native mobile app (now merged with Speedtest by Ookla). For IT teams, IsDown's web interface integrates better with existing workflows through desktop dashboards and team collaboration tools.
How does IsDown compare to Downdetector for enterprise integrations and API access?
IsDown includes full API access and offers extensive integrations: Datadog, PagerDuty, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, FireHydrant, Incident.io, and webhooks. Downdetector requires an Enterprise plan (custom pricing, contact sales) for API access, dashboards, and advanced notifications. Their Enterprise plan only offers Datadog integration. For teams needing API access or multiple integrations, IsDown provides better value with transparent pricing.
Can I use both IsDown and Downdetector together?
Yes! Some organizations use IsDown for detailed status monitoring with official vendor data and team collaboration, while occasionally checking Downdetector for a broad consumer perspective on widespread outages. However, for most business needs, IsDown's comprehensive approach provides all necessary information in one platform.
What level of detail does IsDown provide compared to Downdetector?
IsDown provides full incident details from official sources: titles, descriptions, affected components, severity levels, and timeline updates. Downdetector shows report volume and basic status based on user submissions. For IT managers who need to understand specific impact and communicate with stakeholders, IsDown delivers the business context required.
Is Downdetector free while IsDown requires payment?
Downdetector's website and basic mobile app are free for consumers browsing outage reports. However, for features like API access, dashboards, alarms, and email/RSS notifications, you need Downdetector's Enterprise plan (custom pricing, contact sales). IsDown offers transparent pricing starting at $37/month ($444/year) with all features included from the start.
What does Downdetector's Enterprise plan include and how does it compare to IsDown?
Downdetector's Enterprise plan (contact for pricing) includes API access, dashboard with location-based reports and comparative views, email/RSS notifications, and Datadog integration. IsDown includes all these features in standard plans starting at $37/month, plus additional integrations (PagerDuty, Slack, Teams, etc.), internal status pages, official vendor data vs crowdsourced reports, and transparent pricing. For most business needs, IsDown provides better value with more features at lower, predictable costs.
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