Side by side
Aura Monitoring vs dnshealth_exporter
Both stand on dns monitoring software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Choose Aura if you need synthetic checks, multi-region verification, and status pages with alert routing. The free plan covers 10 monitors, including HTTP and heartbeat checks; SSL, DNS, and domain-expiry monitoring start with the $19/mo paid plan. Teams seeking real user monitoring should look elsewhere.
Visit Aura MonitoringChoose dnshealth_exporter if you run Linux or self-hosted infrastructure and want DNS checks exposed to Prometheus, Grafana, or Alertmanager. Its early-development status and initial HTTP 503 period are worth accounting for when planning operations.
Visit dnshealth_exporterThe facts
| Aura Monitoring | dnshealth_exporter | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Web | Linux, Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Paid plan: $19 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | auramonitoring.com | github.com |
| On dns monitoring software | #4 of 36 | #6 of 36 |
Aura Monitoring: what it does well
- Checks HTTP and API endpoints as often as every minute.
- Monitors DNS record changes across five record types.
- Routes alerts through chat, email, SMS, and webhooks.
- Provides on-call schedules and quiet hours.
- Status pages support incidents, maintenance, and customer subscriptions.
What to know first
- The free plan is limited to 10 monitors.
- SSL, DNS, and domain-expiry monitors require a paid plan.
- It does not provide real user monitoring.
dnshealth_exporter: what it does well
- Open-source software under Apache License 2.0
- Checks SOA, recursion availability, and glue consistency
- Metrics integrate with Prometheus-based dashboarding and alerting
- Configuration reloads without restarting the exporter
- Docker Compose demo includes Grafana and a CoreDNS hierarchy
What to know first
- Project is marked as early development
- Metrics endpoint returns HTTP 503 before the first probe completes
- Building from source requires Go 1.26 or later
Alternatives to Aura Monitoring Alternatives to dnshealth_exporter The whole list