FiveNines.io vs HetrixTools : Which Monitoring Tool Should You Choose?
When it comes to keeping your servers online, the right monitoring tool makes all the difference. Two strong options are FiveNines.io and HetrixTools. Both platforms help you track your server and system health, but they target different use cases.
In this article, we’ll compare HetrixTools and FiveNines.io side by side. Features, pricing, pros & cons, so you can make the best decision for your infrastructure.
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Best For |
|---|---|
| HetrixTools | Website uptime monitoring and blacklist checks. Great for webmasters and email providers who need simple, affordable monitoring. |
| FiveNines.io | Deep server monitoring, uptime checks, and cron job tracking. Best for sysadmins, developers, and DevOps teams who want full visibility into infrastructure health. |
👉 TL;DR: HetrixTools is lightweight and great for uptime. FiveNines.io goes deeper into system metrics, giving you more control and insights.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | HetrixTools | FiveNines.io |
|---|---|---|
| Server Monitoring | Basic resource usage | ✅ CPU, memory, disk, load average, processes, proxies, databases, ... |
| Data collection interval | 🐢 60 seconds | 🚀 up to 5 seconds |
| Virtual Machines Monitoring | ❌ Not available | ✅ Built-in |
| Docker Containers Monitoring | ❌ Not available | ✅ Built-in |
| Blacklist Monitoring | ✅ IP/domain reputation | ❌ Not a core feature |
| Dashboards | Simple status views | ✅ Customizable dashboards, drag-and-drop, public sharing |
| Data Retention | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| UX / UI | 😱 Coming from a previous century | 😎 Clean and easy to handle |
Pricing Breakdown
HetrixTools
- Free Plan: 15 servers
- Paid Plans: From $9.95/month, scaling with more monitors and advanced features
FiveNines.io
- Free Plan: 5 servers
- Paid Plans:
- 30 servers → $5/month
- 55 servers → $10/month
- Scale with your needs
- Flexibility: Extra monitors can be purchased individually (no forced upgrades)
👉 Verdict: HetrixTools is good for basic monitoring. FiveNines.io provides more predictable pricing for deep server monitoring.
Ease of Use
- HetrixTools: The User Experience is not that good to set up uptime and blacklist monitors. Perfect for beginners who just want alerts when something goes down.
- FiveNines.io: One-line agent installation gives you instant system metrics. The product is built to be simple and with customizable Dashboards and alerts, you get much more control.
Pros & Cons
HetrixTools
✅ Simple server observability
✅ Free tier includes 15 servers
❌ Not containers and virtual machines monitoring
✅ Strong blacklist monitoring
❌ No incidents history
❌ Limited system metrics
❌ Not customizable Dashboards
FiveNines.io
✅ Full server observability (CPU, RAM, disk, load, processes, database, proxies, ...)
✅ Paid plans are based on usage
✅ Containers and virtual machines monitoring
✅ Custom dashboards and public sharing
✅ Incidents history
❌ Smaller free plan than HetrixTools
❌ Focuses less on blacklist monitoring
Which One Should You Choose?
- Choose HetrixTools if:
You’re mainly interested in uptime monitoring for websites and want IP/domain blacklist checks included for free. Great for webmasters, email providers, and lightweight monitoring. - Choose FiveNines.io if:
You need deep system monitoring, cron job tracking, and customizable dashboards. Perfect for sysadmins, DevOps teams, and businesses aiming for high availability.
Final Verdict
Both HetrixTools and FiveNines.io are excellent monitoring solutions but they’re built for different needs.
- HetrixTools → Best for simple uptime checks and blacklist monitoring.
- FiveNines.io → Best for server observability, cron job monitoring, and infrastructure reliability.
👉 Looking for more than just uptime checks? Try FiveNines.io free and get complete visibility into your servers.
