User guide
ZeroDrop is a free, multi-location uptime monitor. It probes your HTTP endpoints and mail servers from several points around the world, agrees on whether something is actually down using a consensus of those locations, and tells you the moment an incident opens or closes.
This guide walks through everything you can do from the console: creating checks, tuning how aggressively they alert, wiring up notifications, scheduling maintenance, and securing your account.
How it works
ZeroDrop has three moving parts you never have to run yourself:
- Locations are independent probing agents in San Francisco (SFO), New York (NYC), Amsterdam (AMS) and Sydney (SYD). Every check runs from all active locations, so a single flaky network can't create a false alarm.
- The collector gathers each location's results on every interval and asks the evaluator for a verdict.
- Consensus declares a check down only when enough locations agree, for enough consecutive evaluations. This is what keeps ZeroDrop quiet until something is genuinely wrong. See Consensus & status.
A check moves between three states: ok, firing (down), and unknown (ZeroDrop can't see enough locations to judge). Transitions into and out of firing open and close incidents, which is what triggers your notifications.
What you can monitor
| Type | What it does | Page |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP / HTTPS | Request a URL, check the status code, body and TLS certificate, and record timing. | Checks |
| SMTP | Connect to a mail server and time its welcome banner, optionally over STARTTLS. | Checks |
Start here
- Getting started: create your account and your first check.
- Checks: every option on an HTTP or SMTP check.
- Consensus & status: how ZeroDrop decides up vs. down.
- Incidents & alerts: notification channels and what gets sent.
- Maintenance windows: silence expected downtime.
- Dashboards: read the overview, check detail, badges and global board.
- Account & security: passwords, two-factor, passkeys, API tokens.
- Settings: account name, timezone, notifications, theme and limits.
ZeroDrop is free with no subscription plans. Every account gets multi-location monitoring at a one-minute interval out of the box.