Synthetic Monitoring
Detect Outages Before Your Users Do
GoPinger runs automated HTTP, API, and browser-based checks as fast as every 30 seconds on Pro from external locations — catching downtime, slow responses, and broken pages before anyone notices.
Start Synthetic Monitoring FreeSynthetic Monitoring, Explained
Synthetic monitoring — also called active or proactive monitoring — uses automated checks to test your websites and APIs from external locations on a fixed schedule. Unlike Real User Monitoring (RUM), which passively collects data from actual visitors, synthetic monitoring simulates requests 24/7 — so you can detect outages at 3 AM on a Sunday, not when customers start complaining on Monday.
Synthetic Monitoring
- Proactive — tests 24/7 regardless of traffic
- Catches outages before users are affected
- Consistent, repeatable baseline measurements
- Works for APIs, staging, and pre-launch sites
Real User Monitoring
- Reactive — needs real visitors to collect data
- Blind spots during low-traffic periods
- Variable — depends on user devices and networks
- Cannot monitor sites with zero traffic
New to the concept? Read our complete guide: What Is Synthetic Monitoring?
The Types of Synthetic Monitoring
Synthetic monitoring comes in a few flavors. Here is how the common types map to what GoPinger actually does.
Availability monitoring
Is the site or endpoint up and returning the right status code? GoPinger’s HTTP(S) checks answer this from external locations, as often as every 30 seconds on Pro.
Performance monitoring
How fast does it respond? Every check records response time, so you can baseline performance and catch slowdowns long before they become outages.
API & protocol tests
Direct requests that validate an endpoint’s status code, headers, and JSON body — plus SSL certificate expiry checks. Fast, lightweight, and exact.
API monitoring →Browser tests
A real Chromium browser renders the page and captures a full-page screenshot you can review — so you see what actually loaded, not just that the server answered.
Screenshot monitoring →Enterprise tools also offer transaction monitoring — recorded, multi-step scripts that click through a checkout or login flow. GoPinger focuses on fast, reliable single-URL and single-endpoint checks rather than recorded click-paths. For most teams, monitoring the key URLs directly catches outages just as fast, with far less to maintain.
Synthetic API Monitoring with a Visual Builder
GoPinger sends real HTTP requests to your endpoints as fast as every 30 seconds on Pro — the core of synthetic monitoring. Build complex API checks visually with our Postman-like request editor, complete with authentication, headers, and response validation.
- HTTP, HTTPS, and REST API synthetic checks
- Status code, response body, and header validation
- Configurable intervals down to 30 seconds on Pro
- Auth helpers: Bearer token, Basic, API Key
Browser Checks with Real Chromium
Go beyond HTTP pings. GoPinger launches a real Chromium browser to render your pages and captures a full-page screenshot on every check. Browse the screenshot history to see exactly how each page rendered — and spot broken layouts, missing images, or defacements that status-code-only checks miss entirely.
- Real Chromium browser rendering on every check
- Full-page screenshot gallery with history
- Review captures to catch broken images, missing CSS, or blank pages
- See the exact screenshot alongside each uptime event
Get Alerted in Seconds, Not Minutes
When a synthetic check fails, GoPinger alerts your team immediately through your preferred channels. Multi-level escalation ensures the right person is notified — with on-call scheduling so alerts always reach someone who can act.
- Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Freshdesk, and webhook alerts
- Multi-level escalation policies
- On-call scheduling with automatic rotation
- Configurable alert thresholds to reduce noise
Run Checks From Multiple Locations
A site can be up in one region and unreachable in another because of a CDN, DNS, or routing failure — or a security layer that blocks a single monitoring server. GoPinger runs synthetic checks from multiple global locations (up to 5 on Pro) and uses consensus alerting: it only pages you when several locations agree, which cuts false alarms while still catching real regional outages.
How Often Should Synthetic Checks Run?
As a rule of thumb, check business-critical endpoints every 1–5 minutes and lower-priority pages every 15–30 minutes. Faster intervals detect downtime sooner but run more checks, so match frequency to how critical each monitor is.
- Freeevery 5 minutes
- Starterevery 1 minute
- Proevery 30 seconds
How Synthetic Monitoring Works with GoPinger
Set up proactive monitoring in under 2 minutes — no agents or code changes needed.
Add Your Endpoints
Enter a URL or build an API request with our visual editor. Choose your check interval — as frequent as every 30 seconds on Pro.
GoPinger Tests Automatically
Our synthetic monitors send real HTTP requests and render pages in a Chromium browser on schedule. No traffic from real users needed.
Get Alerted Instantly
When a check fails or performance degrades, your team is notified in under 60 seconds via email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Freshdesk, or webhook.
What Teams Use Synthetic Monitoring For
Ecommerce checkout
Watch your cart, checkout, and payment endpoints so a broken buy button surfaces in seconds — not from a customer email.
Ecommerce monitoring →SaaS apps & APIs
Keep your login, public API, and third-party dependencies healthy around the clock — even during low-traffic hours.
SaaS monitoring →WordPress & agencies
Monitor client sites and WooCommerce stores from the outside, with no plugin to install and one dashboard for every site.
WordPress monitoring →Staging & pre-launch
Because synthetic checks do not need real traffic, you can monitor a staging or pre-launch URL before anyone visits it.
The Honest Limits of Synthetic Monitoring
Synthetic monitoring tests from fixed locations on a schedule, so it will not capture every real user’s device, browser, and network conditions the way Real User Monitoring (RUM) does. It is best at answering one question reliably, 24/7: “is it working, and how fast, right now?”
GoPinger is a synthetic (active) monitoring platform and does not do RUM — so if you also need real-visitor session data, pair it with a dedicated RUM tool. For catching outages before customers do, synthetic monitoring is the tool that works even when no one is watching.
Synthetic Monitoring FAQ
What is synthetic monitoring?
Synthetic monitoring — also called active or proactive monitoring — runs automated, scheduled checks against your sites and APIs from external locations to verify availability, response time, and correctness, so you catch issues before real users do. GoPinger runs these as HTTP(S), REST API, and Chromium-rendered browser checks, as often as every 30 seconds on Pro.
How is synthetic monitoring different from Real User Monitoring (RUM)?
Synthetic monitoring proactively sends scheduled test requests whether or not anyone is visiting, so it detects outages even at 3 AM with zero traffic. RUM only collects data when real visitors are on your site. GoPinger is a synthetic (active) monitoring platform — it does not offer RUM, so for capturing real visitor sessions you would pair it with a separate RUM tool.
What are the types of synthetic monitoring?
The common types are availability monitoring (is it up and responding), performance monitoring (how fast it responds), and transaction monitoring (completing a multi-step flow). GoPinger covers availability and performance through HTTP, API, and browser checks; it runs single-URL and single-endpoint checks rather than recorded multi-step click-path scripts.
What is the difference between API tests and browser tests?
An API (protocol) test sends a direct request to an endpoint and validates the status code, headers, and response body — fast and lightweight. A browser test renders the full page so you can see what loaded. GoPinger does both: a Postman-like API check builder with response validation, plus real Chromium browser checks that capture full-page screenshots for you to review.
How often should synthetic monitoring checks run?
Critical endpoints are usually checked every 1–5 minutes; lower-priority pages every 15–30 minutes is fine. GoPinger supports 5-minute intervals on Free, 1-minute on Starter, and as fast as every 30 seconds on Pro, so you can match frequency to how critical each monitor is.
Does GoPinger detect visual changes on my pages?
GoPinger’s browser checks render your page in real Chromium and capture full-page screenshots with history, so you can open and visually compare captures to spot broken layouts, missing images, or defacements. This is review-based: GoPinger does not run an automatic visual-diff or regression engine — you review the screenshot history yourself. Screenshot capture is available on Starter and above.
Do I need to install anything?
No. GoPinger is a fully hosted synthetic monitoring platform. Your checks run from our external infrastructure — no agents, browser extensions, or code changes required. Just add a URL and start monitoring.
Is synthetic monitoring available on the free plan?
Yes. GoPinger’s Free plan includes 5 monitors with checks every 5 minutes, SSL certificate monitoring, one monitoring location, and email plus webhook alerts — no credit card required. Upgrade to Starter for API monitoring, screenshots, 1-minute checks, and Slack/Teams/Freshdesk; Pro adds 30-second checks and on-call escalation.
Start Synthetic Monitoring Free
Proactive monitoring with checks down to 30 seconds on Pro, real browser screenshots, and alerts in under 60 seconds. Free forever with 5 monitors — no credit card needed.
Start Synthetic Monitoring Free