Oh Dear
Belgian uptime, SSL and broken-link monitor built by developers, with primary data hosted in Belgium
Quick Overview
| Company | Immutable VOF |
|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Observability |
| Headquarters | Berlaar, Belgium |
| Founded | 2018 |
| EU Presence | EU (Belgium) |
| Data Location | Primary data in Belgium (Combell); performance metrics via ClickHouse Cloud |
| Open Source | No |
| Pricing | Solo $17/month (2 sites/servers) up to Scale $439/month (200); Enterprise on request; two months free when billed annually |
| Free Option | 10-day free trial, no credit card |
| Replaces | UptimeRobot, Pingdom, Site24x7 |
Detailed Review
Oh Dear, built by the Spatie developers Freek Van der Herten and Mattias Geniar in Belgium, treats a website as more than an uptime number: uptime checks from multiple locations sit alongside SSL certificate expiry, broken-link crawling, mixed-content detection, DNS and domain-expiry watching, and scheduled-task tracking, so one monitor replaces several single-purpose tools for a small team or agency running client sites.
Monitors can be defined in plain English with AI verification, and the product leans API-first for teams that want monitoring as code rather than a manual dashboard. Primary data is kept in Belgium with Combell, an ISO 27001-certified host, with performance metrics stored separately via ClickHouse Cloud.
Immutable VOF operates from Berlaar, Belgium. Pricing runs from $17 per month for 2 sites or servers up to $439 per month for 200, with a 10-day free trial. Against Checkly or Better Stack, Oh Dear stays narrower — it covers website and endpoint health rather than distributed tracing or infrastructure metrics, and there is no self-hosted option.
What Oh Dear does well
- Uptime, SSL, broken links and DNS in one check
- AI-verified, plain-English monitor definitions
- Primary data hosted in Belgium (ISO 27001 host)
- API-first, monitoring-as-code friendly
- Belgian company, EU jurisdiction
Where Oh Dear falls short
- No self-hosted option
- Narrower scope than a full APM or infra platform
- Pricing scales with number of sites/servers
- Performance metrics stored via a separate subprocessor
Standout feature. One check that covers uptime, SSL, broken links and DNS — built by developers for their own client sites.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Uptime, SSL, broken links and DNS in one check
- AI-verified, plain-English monitor definitions
- Primary data hosted in Belgium (ISO 27001 host)
- API-first, monitoring-as-code friendly
- Belgian company, EU jurisdiction
Cons
- No self-hosted option
- Narrower scope than a full APM or infra platform
- Pricing scales with number of sites/servers
- Performance metrics stored via a separate subprocessor
Alternatives to Oh Dear
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Oh Dear?
Oh Dear, built by the Spatie developers Freek Van der Herten and Mattias Geniar in Belgium, treats a website as more than an uptime number: uptime checks from multiple locations sit alongside SSL certificate expiry, broken-link crawling, mixed-content detection, DNS and domain-expiry watching, and scheduled-task tracking, so one monitor replaces several single-purpose tools for a small team or agency running client sites.
Where is Oh Dear based?
Oh Dear operates from Berlaar, Belgium, which places it under EU (Belgium).
What does Oh Dear cost?
Solo $17/month (2 sites/servers) up to Scale $439/month (200); Enterprise on request; two months free when billed annually. 10-day free trial, no credit card.
Who is Oh Dear best for?
Small teams and agencies who want uptime, SSL and broken links in one check. One check that covers uptime, SSL, broken links and DNS — built by developers for their own client sites.
What are the drawbacks of Oh Dear?
No self-hosted option. Narrower scope than a full APM or infra platform. Pricing scales with number of sites/servers. Performance metrics stored via a separate subprocessor.
Is Oh Dear a good alternative to UptimeRobot?
Oh Dear is built as a European alternative to UptimeRobot: Belgian uptime, SSL and broken-link monitor built by developers, with primary data hosted in Belgium. It will not be a like-for-like feature match in every respect, so check the review above for where the two genuinely differ before switching.
How does Oh Dear compare to other Monitoring & Observability tools?
Oh Dear is one of several European Monitoring & Observability tools we cover. It is most often compared with UptimeRobot, Pingdom, Site24x7.