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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions and answers about using CheckStatus

Find answers to common questions about using CheckStatus. If you can't find what you're looking for, contact our support team.

Getting Started

How do I create my first status page?

  1. Sign in to your CheckStatus account
  2. Click Status Pages in the sidebar
  3. Click Create Status Page
  4. Complete the wizard (name, subdomain, components, notifications, branding)
  5. Click Create Status Page

For a complete walkthrough, see our Quick Start Guide.

What's the difference between components and status pages?

A status page is the public-facing page your customers visit to see your service status. Components are the individual parts of your service displayed on that page (like API, Website, Database, etc.). Each status page can have multiple components.

How do I access my public status page?

Your status page is available at your subdomain URL. For example, if your subdomain is "acme", visit acme.checkstatus.io. You can also click View Status Page from the sidebar or dashboard.

What's the difference between public and private status pages?

Public status pages are accessible to anyone on the internet. Use these for customer-facing status communication.

Private status pages are only accessible to authenticated team members. Use these for internal infrastructure monitoring that shouldn't be publicly visible.

To make a status page private:

  1. Click Status Pages in the sidebar
  2. Click Edit on the status page
  3. In the Page Visibility section, check Make this status page private
  4. Click Save Changes

Incidents

What's the difference between incident statuses?

Status When to Use
Investigating You've identified an issue and are looking into it
Identified You've found the root cause
Monitoring A fix is in place and you're watching for issues
Resolved The incident is fully resolved

Should I create an incident for minor issues?

Yes, transparency builds trust. Even minor issues should be communicated. Use the "Minor" impact level for small issues that affect few users.

How do I update an incident?

  1. Go to Incidents in the sidebar
  2. Click the edit icon (pencil) on the incident row
  3. In the Post Update section, select the new status
  4. Enter your message describing the current situation
  5. Click Post Update

What happens when I resolve an incident?

  • The incident moves to the history section on your status page
  • Affected components automatically return to "Operational" (unless another incident affects them)
  • Subscribers receive a resolution notification

Components

How many components should I have?

There's no right number, but keep these guidelines in mind:

  • Too few: Customers can't tell which specific services are affected
  • Too many: The status page becomes cluttered and hard to read
  • Just right: 5-15 components covering your main services

How is uptime calculated?

Uptime is calculated based on how long each component is in each status:

  • Operational/Degraded: Counts as 100% uptime
  • Partial Outage: Counts as 50% uptime
  • Major Outage: Counts as 0% uptime
  • Under Maintenance: Excluded from calculations

Yes. Use Component Groups to organize related components together. For example, you might have groups for "Infrastructure," "Customer-Facing," and "Third-Party Services."

Subscribers

How do subscribers sign up?

Visitors to your public status page can enter their email address in the subscribe form. They'll receive a confirmation email and must click the link to confirm their subscription.

Why aren't my subscribers receiving emails?

Check the following:

  1. Email notifications are enabled for the status page
  2. The subscriber is confirmed (not pending)
  3. The incident is published (drafts don't send notifications)
  4. The subscriber hasn't unsubscribed

Ask subscribers to check their spam folder and add your domain to their safe senders list.

Can subscribers choose which components to receive notifications for?

Currently, subscribers receive notifications for all incidents and maintenance on your status page. Component-specific subscriptions are on our roadmap.

What's the subscriber limit?

Plan Subscriber Limit
Free 50
Starter 500
Growth 1,000
Pro 5,000

This limit applies to total subscribers across all your status pages.

Team & Account

How do I invite team members?

  1. Click your profile icon in the top right corner
  2. Click Accounts
  3. Click on your account name
  4. Click Invite A User
  5. Enter their name, email, and select a role
  6. Click Send invitation

What's the difference between Admin and Member roles?

Admins have full access including billing and team management. Members can manage status pages, incidents, and components but cannot access billing or invite team members.

Can I have multiple status pages?

Yes, depending on your plan:

Plan Status Pages
Free 1
Starter 1
Growth 3
Pro 10

How do I change my plan?

  1. Click your profile icon in the top right corner
  2. Click Billing
  3. Click Change plan
  4. Select your new plan
  5. Complete the payment process

Upgrades take effect immediately.

Scheduled Maintenance

How far in advance should I schedule maintenance?

We recommend scheduling maintenance at least 24-48 hours in advance to give your customers time to prepare. For major maintenance, consider even more notice.

What's the difference between auto-start and auto-complete?

  • Auto-start: Maintenance automatically transitions to "In Progress" at the scheduled start time
  • Auto-complete: Maintenance automatically transitions to "Completed" at the scheduled end time

Enable both for fully automated maintenance windows.

Can I extend maintenance if it takes longer than expected?

Yes. While maintenance is in progress, you can click Extend to set a new end time.

Notifications

What events trigger notifications?

Event Notification
Incident created Email to subscribers
Incident updated Email to subscribers
Incident resolved Email to subscribers
Maintenance scheduled Email to subscribers
Maintenance started Email to subscribers
Maintenance completed Email to subscribers

Can I integrate with Slack or other tools?

Yes, use webhooks to integrate with external tools. Go to your status page settings and configure a webhook URL. CheckStatus will send a POST request with event data whenever something happens.

How do I stop team notifications temporarily?

You can disable team notifications for a status page:

  1. Click Status Pages in the sidebar
  2. Click Edit on the status page
  3. In the Page Visibility section, uncheck Enable team notifications
  4. Click Save Changes

Remember to re-enable them when you're ready. Note: Subscriber notifications are controlled per incident/maintenance when you create or update them.

Billing & Plans

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept all major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Can I get a refund?

Please contact our support team within 14 days of your purchase to discuss refund options.

What happens if I exceed my plan limits?

When you approach a limit, you'll see a warning. If you exceed a limit, some features may be restricted (like creating new status pages or adding subscribers). Upgrade your plan to unlock more capacity.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. The Free plan includes 1 status page, 5 components, 50 subscribers, and basic incident management. It's perfect for small projects and getting started.

Do paid plans have a free trial?

Yes. When you upgrade from the Free plan to a paid plan (Starter, Growth, or Pro), you get a 30-day free trial. During the trial:

  • You have full access to all features of your chosen plan
  • Adding a payment method is optional during signup
  • You'll see a banner showing how many days remain in your trial

What happens when my free trial ends?

If you've added a payment method before your trial ends, your subscription continues automatically and you'll be charged.

If you haven't added a payment method when your trial ends:

  1. Your subscription is paused (not canceled)
  2. Your status pages are temporarily suspended and won't be publicly accessible
  3. You'll see a warning banner asking you to add a payment method
  4. You can still access your dashboard to add payment or make changes

How do I resume my subscription after it's paused?

You have four options:

Option What Happens
Add payment method Subscription resumes immediately, all your status pages are reactivated
Switch to different paid plan Redirects to checkout, subscription resumes with new plan
Downgrade to Free One status page is reactivated (Free plan limit), subscription is canceled
Cancel subscription You're moved to the Free plan, status pages remain inactive until you create a new one

To add a payment method:

  1. Click Billing in your account menu
  2. Click Add Payment Method
  3. Enter your card details
  4. Your subscription resumes automatically

To switch to a different paid plan:

  1. Go to Pricing from your account menu
  2. Your current plan shows a yellow "Paused" badge
  3. Select a different plan
  4. Complete checkout with payment details
  5. Your subscription resumes with the new plan

What happens if my payment fails?

If your credit card is declined or expires:

  1. We'll retry the payment automatically over the next few weeks
  2. Your status pages are temporarily suspended to prevent service interruption
  3. You'll receive email notifications about the failed payment
  4. You'll see a warning banner in your dashboard

To resolve:

  1. Go to Billing and update your payment method
  2. Once payment succeeds, all your status pages are automatically reactivated

Will I lose my data if my subscription is paused or canceled?

No. Your data (status pages, incidents, components, subscribers) is preserved even when your subscription is paused or you downgrade. However:

  • Status pages may be temporarily suspended (not publicly accessible)
  • When downgrading to Free, only one status page can be active
  • Your data remains available if you upgrade again later

Can I downgrade from a paid plan to Free?

Yes, but there are limits to be aware of:

  • Status pages: Free plan allows 1 status page (extras become inactive)
  • Team members: Free plan allows 2 team members (you may need to remove extras)
  • Subscribers: Free plan allows 50 subscribers (you may need to reduce this number)

If you exceed Free plan limits, you'll see an error message explaining what needs to be adjusted before downgrading. The same applies when switching between paid plans—for example, if you're on Growth (3 status pages) and want to switch to Starter (1 status page), you'll need to remove extra pages first.

Note: When downgrading from a paused subscription to Free, one status page is automatically reactivated (the oldest one you created). Your other pages remain inactive but your data is preserved.

For more details, see our Billing & Subscriptions Guide.

Still Have Questions?

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