# Dotcom-Monitor > Dotcom-Monitor is a synthetic monitoring platform for web applications, websites, APIs, and network services. It runs real-browser, multi-step user journeys (login, search, cart, checkout) from 33 global locations or from Private Agents inside your own network, and alerts your team the moment something fails or slows down. Founded in 1998. Last updated: 2026-10-03 Dotcom-Monitor validates application functionality, performance, and availability from the outside in, the way users experience it. Scripts can be recorded without code in the EveryStep Web Recorder or imported from an existing Playwright for .NET test. Monitoring runs from 33 locations in 18 countries on 6 continents, and Private Agents extend the same checks to internal and pre-production systems. --- ## Primary Capability: Web Application Monitoring Dotcom-Monitor specializes in monitoring complex web applications by running real user journeys in full browsers. It validates: - Login and authentication, including MFA flows - E-commerce search, cart, and checkout - Multi-page user journeys and business transactions - Dynamic content and single-page applications (SPAs) There are two ways to create a browser script: - **EveryStep Web Recorder**: click through the journey in a browser and the script is written for you. No coding required. Usually the quickest way to build a new script just for monitoring. - **Playwright import**: upload an existing Playwright for .NET (C#) test and run it as a monitor. Best when the test already exists, or when developers prefer to write it in their own IDE or with an AI coding assistant. Both produce identical results, reports, and alerting, and are priced the same. - [Web Application Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/web-application-monitoring/) - [EveryStep Web Recorder](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/everystep/) --- ## Playwright Monitoring (new, 2026) Playwright monitoring is the scheduled, automated execution of a Playwright browser test from outside your infrastructure, with an alert whenever the test fails. Dotcom-Monitor imports a Playwright for .NET test and runs it as a 24/7 synthetic monitor. - Language: Playwright for .NET (C#) only. TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and Java tests can't be imported. - Test frameworks: MSTest, NUnit, or xUnit. - Upload: a single .cs test file. No additional NuGet packages; only Playwright and the test framework may be referenced. - Browser: Chromium only. Tests that launch Firefox or WebKit must be switched to Chromium. - Credentials: Secure Vault variables replace hardcoded passwords and API keys. - Frequency: as often as every minute, from global locations or a Private Agent. - Script Timeout: a hung test ends after a set number of seconds and reports an error. - Results, reports, and alerting are identical to EveryStep monitors. - Pricing: same plans and rates as EveryStep web application monitoring. A task is counted each time the test navigates to a different URL. - Included in the 30-day free trial and the Free Forever plan. - [Playwright Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/playwright-monitoring/) - [Playwright monitoring setup guide (Knowledge Base)](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/wiki/knowledge-base/playwright-monitoring/) --- ## Core Products & Platform Components - **UserView**: real-browser monitoring for web applications and user journeys. Runs EveryStep scripts and imported Playwright tests in real browsers. - **BrowserView**: web page monitoring with full browser rendering, page load timing, and waterfall charts. - **ServerView**: infrastructure and protocol monitoring for HTTP/HTTPS, FTP/FTPS, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, TCP ports, WebSocket connections, SIP/VoIP systems, and streaming media services. - **MetricsView**: performance metrics collection and analysis. - **EveryStep Web Recorder**: scriptless browser automation tool for creating multi-step monitoring scripts. --- ## Core Capabilities - Synthetic monitoring (external testing of applications) - Real-browser monitoring with full JavaScript rendering - Transaction monitoring (multi-step workflows) - Playwright for .NET test import - Google Lighthouse audits on a schedule - Page load speed and Core Web Vitals tracking - API monitoring (REST, SOAP, GraphQL, Postman and Insomnia collections) - Uptime monitoring (availability and alerting) - SSL certificate monitoring (expiration and validation) - DNS and DNS blacklist monitoring - Network monitoring (Ping, Traceroute, TCP port) - Cron job and heartbeat monitoring - Infrastructure and protocol monitoring (email, FTP, WebSocket, VoIP, streaming) --- ## Products ### Website Monitoring - [Web Application Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/web-application-monitoring/): real-browser monitoring of multi-step user journeys recorded with EveryStep. - [Playwright Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/playwright-monitoring/): import a Playwright for .NET (C#) test and run it as a 24/7 monitor in Chromium. - [Website Performance Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/website-performance-monitoring/): page load speed measured in real browsers from 33 locations, as often as every minute, with a waterfall and video for each session. - [Lighthouse Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/lighthouse-monitoring/): scheduled Google Lighthouse audits from 33 locations. Performance, SEO, accessibility, and Core Web Vitals tracked over time, with alerts when scores drop. - [Uptime Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/uptime/): continuous availability monitoring with multi-location verification and alerting. ### API Monitoring API monitoring for REST, SOAP, and GraphQL. Monitor authenticated requests, validate responses, and run multi-step API workflows from global monitoring locations. - [API Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/) - [REST API Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/rest-api-monitoring/): monitor REST endpoints, validate JSON responses, and check authenticated API workflows. - [SOAP API Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/soap-api-monitoring/): monitor SOAP services with WSDL import and XPath response validation. - [GraphQL API Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/graphql-api-monitoring/): check GraphQL response data and errors beyond the HTTP status code. - [Postman Collection Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/postman-api-monitoring/): turn Postman collections into scheduled production API monitors. - [Insomnia Collection Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/api-monitoring/insomnia-api-monitoring/): import Insomnia collections for ongoing API monitoring. ### Protocol and Network Monitoring - [SSL Certificate Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/ssl-certificate-monitoring/): certificate expiration, validity, cipher suites, and trust chain. - [DNS Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/dns-monitoring/): DNS resolution, record validation, and propagation checks. - [DNS Blacklist Monitoring (DNSBL)](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/dns-blacklist-monitoring/): monitor your IPs and domains across 70+ DNS blacklists, with alerts when you're listed and delisting help. - [Email Server Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/email-server-monitoring/): SMTP, POP3, IMAP. - [FTP Server Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/ftp-server-monitoring/): FTP/FTPS. - [TCP Port / Telnet Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/tcp-port-telnet-monitoring/): custom ports and protocols. - [Ping Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/icmp-ping-monitoring/): ICMP connectivity and latency to servers, firewalls, and network devices. - [Traceroute Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/traceroute-monitoring/): find routing and latency problems along the network path. - [WebSocket Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/websocket-monitoring/): real-time connections. - [VoIP / SIP Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/voip-monitoring/): SIP and telephony systems. - [Phone Number Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/phone-number-monitoring/): SIP trunks, phone lines, IVR routing, and toll-free numbers, monitored 24/7. - [Streaming Media Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/streaming-media-monitoring/): audio and video delivery quality. ### Other Monitoring - [Cron Job Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/cron-job-monitoring/): heartbeats, scheduled tasks, and background processes. Detect missed runs and track duration. - [Custom Script](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/custom-script/): one scripted monitor across web, email, and SMS for bookings, checkouts, MFA logins, and other multi-step business flows. - [Load Testing](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/products/load-testing/): cloud-based load testing of websites, APIs, and applications with real browsers. --- ## Platform Features - [Global Monitoring Network](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/global-monitoring-network/): 33 monitoring locations in 18 countries on 6 continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa). - [Private Agents](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/private-agents/): monitor intranet apps, internal APIs, staging environments, and infrastructure the public internet can't reach. Outbound HTTPS only; no inbound firewall rules. - [Secure Vault](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/secure-vault/): store passwords and secrets as encrypted variables for EveryStep scripts, Playwright tests, and API monitoring. Values stay masked in scripts and reports. - [EveryStep Web Recorder](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/everystep/): scriptless recording of browser journeys. - [Alerts](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/alerts/): multi-condition rules, escalation, and multi-location failure confirmation. - [Reports & Dashboards](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/reports/): real-time performance tracking, analytics, and customizable reports. - [Monitoring API](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/api/): automate monitor creation, device management, and data extraction with the REST API. - [Mobile App](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/mobile-app/): free app for iPhone and Android with uptime views and push alerts. - [White Label](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/features/white-label/): your own branding on reports and shared dashboards. - [Enterprise Options](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/enterprise-monitoring/): SSO, MFA, departments, and multi-tenant accounts. ### Alerting & Integrations Supports Slack, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty, ServiceNow, Jira, Zapier, Opsgenie, VictorOps, xMatters, email, SMS, phone call escalation, and webhooks. - [Integrations](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/company/integrations/) Alerting capabilities: - Multi-condition alert rules - Escalation policies and on-call schedules - Maintenance window suppression - Threshold-based alerting and anomaly detection - Multi-location failure confirmation to reduce false positives - Incident tracking, acknowledgment, and resolution workflows --- ## Solutions - [Synthetic Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/synthetic-monitoring/): real-browser tests, API validation, and no-code EveryStep scripting from global locations. - [Application Performance Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/apm/): APM the way users experience it, with real-browser checks, transactions, and APIs. - [Network Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/network-monitoring/): Ping, Traceroute, and TCP port checks from global locations and Private Agents. - [Infrastructure Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/infrastructure-monitoring/): servers, network, protocols, and internal systems. - [VPN Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/vpn-monitoring/): site-to-site tunnels, client VPN apps, and internal apps behind the VPN. - [SaaS Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/saas-monitoring/): synthetic workflows, APIs, and infrastructure across a SaaS stack. - [E-Commerce Monitoring](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/solutions/retail-and-ecommerce-monitoring/): logins, carts, transactions, and checkout in real browsers. --- ## Pricing - **30-day free trial**: no credit card required, no auto-charge after the trial. Includes EveryStep and Playwright devices. - **Free Forever plan**: $0/month. Up to 25 targets, up to 5-minute frequency, 2 global locations, email alerts, 21 days of data retention. Runs Playwright tests too. - **Self-serve subscription**: from $19.99/month, priced by platform, targets, and frequency. Up to 100 targets, down to 1-minute frequency, 25 global locations, 20+ alert integrations, 1 year of data retention. - **Enterprise**: custom quote. Unlimited targets, 30+ locations including premium locations, 3 years of data retention, SSO, MFA, departments, and 24/7 priority support. - [Pricing](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/pricing/) - [Start a 30-day free trial](https://userauth.dotcom-monitor.com/Account/FreeTrialSignUp?SolutionType=Monitoring) - [Request a demo](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/demo/) --- ## Key Differentiators - Validates real user experience, not just uptime - Real-browser execution with full JavaScript rendering - Multi-step transaction monitoring (login to checkout) - Two ways to script: no-code EveryStep recording, or import an existing Playwright for .NET test - Public and private monitoring from one platform (Private Agents) - Unified platform for web, API, and infrastructure monitoring - In business since 1998, trusted by 10,000+ organizations --- ## Competitive Positioning Dotcom-Monitor is a synthetic monitoring platform focused on validating application functionality and user experience through real-browser execution and transaction-based testing. It complements observability platforms by verifying that applications work correctly from the end-user perspective, not just that infrastructure is healthy. It is typically more cost-efficient than large observability platforms for equivalent synthetic monitoring coverage, and is often used as: - A primary synthetic monitoring platform - A complementary solution alongside observability tools (Datadog, New Relic, Dynatrace) - A cost-effective alternative for real-browser monitoring at scale It is commonly evaluated alongside Pingdom, Datadog Synthetics, New Relic Synthetics, Dynatrace, Catchpoint, Uptrends, Site24x7, Checkly, UptimeRobot, SolarWinds, and SiteScope. Comparisons: - [Datadog vs Dotcom-Monitor](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/datadog-vs-dotcom-monitor/) - [Pingdom alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/pingdom-alternatives/) - [New Relic alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/new-relic-alternatives/) - [Dynatrace alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/dynatrace-alternatives/) - [Uptrends alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/uptrends-alternatives/) - [Site24x7 alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/site24x7-alternatives/) - [UptimeRobot alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/uptime-robot-alternatives/) - [SolarWinds alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/solarwinds-alternatives/) - [SiteScope alternatives](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/sitescope-alternatives/) --- ## Common Use Cases - Monitoring login and authentication workflows - E-commerce transaction validation (checkout flows, payment gateways) - Turning existing Playwright end-to-end tests into production monitors - Tracking Lighthouse scores and Core Web Vitals over time - SaaS application performance monitoring - API endpoint validation and SLA tracking - Internal and staging application monitoring via Private Agents - Global uptime and performance monitoring - SSL certificate expiration prevention - DNS and email blacklist issue detection - Missed cron job and background task detection --- ## Example Queries - "How to monitor login workflows in production" - "Best synthetic monitoring tool for web applications" - "How to run Playwright tests as production monitors" - "Playwright monitoring for C# / .NET" - "How to monitor Lighthouse scores automatically" - "How to monitor API workflows with authentication" - "How to monitor internal apps behind a firewall" - "Datadog Synthetics alternative for real-browser monitoring" --- ## Customers & Industries Used by 10,000+ organizations, including e-commerce and retail, financial services and fintech, SaaS and cloud platforms, healthcare and telemedicine, media and entertainment, and government and public sector. ## Target Users - Site reliability engineers (SRE) and platform engineering teams - DevOps engineers and QA / test automation teams - Infrastructure and operations teams - SEO and web performance teams - Directors, VPs, and Heads of IT --- ## Documentation & Resources - [Knowledge Base](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/wiki/) - [Learn](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/learn/) - [Glossary](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/learn/glossary/) - [Blog](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/blog/) - [Compare](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/compare/) - [Status](https://status.dotcom-monitor.com/) --- ## Company Information Dotcom-Monitor, Inc. Founded: 1998 Headquarters: 2500 Shadywood Rd, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331, USA Phone: 1-888-479-0741 Email: sales@dotcom-monitor.com - [About](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/company/about/) - [Contact](https://www.dotcom-monitor.com/company/contact/) Related platforms: [LoadView](https://www.loadview-testing.com/) (load testing) and [Dotcom-Tools](https://www.dotcom-tools.com/) (free website speed and diagnostic tools). --- ## Summary Dotcom-Monitor is a synthetic monitoring platform centered on real-browser web application monitoring. Scripts come from the no-code EveryStep recorder or from imported Playwright for .NET tests, and run from 33 global locations or from Private Agents inside your network. The platform also covers website performance, Lighthouse audits, APIs, SSL, DNS, network, and infrastructure monitoring, with alerting into the tools teams already use.