What this checks
The checker sends a single request to the URL you enter, from our servers — a neutral vantage point on the public internet, not your network. It reports whether the site answered, the exact HTTP status code it returned, how long the response took, and the URL that was checked. A site counts as up when it replies with a status in the 200–399 range; anything else, or no reply at all, counts as down.
Redirects are not followed here — a 301 or 302 is reported as-is, with its own status, and the final URL stays the one you submitted. If you want to trace where a URL ultimately lands, use the redirect checker instead.
How to read the results
The green Up or red Down badge is the headline. Below it, the status code tells you how the site responded, which is often more useful than up-or-down alone. Status codes come in families:
- 2xx — success. The request was handled normally (200 is the everyday case).
- 3xx — redirect. The URL points elsewhere. Still counts as up here; follow the chain with the redirect checker to see where it ends.
- 4xx — client error. The server answered but rejected the request — 404 (not found), 403 (forbidden), 401 (auth required). The server is up; the specific URL isn't serving.
- 5xx — server error. The server reached but failed — 500, 502 (bad gateway), 503 (unavailable). Usually the clearest sign something is actually broken.
One checker is not monitoring
This is a single spot-check from one public vantage point at one moment. It's honest about its limits: it can tell you the site is reachable from here, right now, but it can't tell you it's reachable from everywhere, or that it stays reachable a minute later. A site can be up for us and down for you because of your ISP, DNS cache, a regional outage, or a firewall — and vice versa.
Continuous, multi-location uptime monitoring — the kind that pages you when a domain goes down and keeps history — is a different job. That's what Approximated runs across every customer domain it manages, not a one-shot check like this one.
FAQ
Why does this say up but it's down for me?
Because "up" is relative to where you check from. This checker reaches the site from our servers on the public internet. If it's down only for you, the cause is usually local: a stale DNS cache, your ISP or VPN, a corporate firewall, or a regional network issue between you and the site. The reverse happens too — a site can be down for us and fine for you.
What status codes count as up?
Anything in the 200–399 range — successful responses and redirects both count as up, because the server answered. A 4xx or 5xx, or no response at all, counts as down. The status code shown tells you exactly which case you're in, so a "down" 404 (server fine, URL missing) reads very differently from a "down" 503 (server struggling).
Does this follow redirects?
No. A redirect is reported with its own 3xx status and the final URL stays the one you submitted. This keeps the check honest about what the URL itself returns. To see every hop from a URL to its final destination, use the redirect checker.
How is this different from uptime monitoring?
A monitor checks continuously, from multiple locations, and alerts you the moment a site goes down — with a history you can look back on. This tool is a single manual check from one location at one moment. It's great for "is it just me?" right now; it won't notice an outage at 3am while you sleep.