Most SaaS founders spend weeks thinking about features and almost no time thinking about failure detection.
The result?
Your first paying customer becomes your monitoring system.
Here's the complete monitoring checklist every SaaS should have before launch.
1. Homepage Monitoring
Monitor your landing page every 30–60 seconds.
If your homepage is down, your acquisition funnel is down.
2. API Endpoint Monitoring
Monitor:
/health/api/v1/status- Authentication endpoints
Many SaaS outages begin in APIs long before the homepage breaks.
3. Login Flow Monitoring
A homepage returning 200 OK doesn't mean users can log in.
Use transaction monitoring to test authentication regularly.
4. SSL Certificate Monitoring
Certificate expiration causes complete trust failure.
Monitor all certificates and receive alerts at least 30 days before expiry.
5. Domain Expiry Monitoring
One missed renewal email can take down your entire business.
Add domain monitoring from day one.
6. Backup Verification
Don't assume backups are working.
Use heartbeat monitoring to verify backup jobs complete successfully.
7. Alert Routing
Email is not enough.
Configure:
- Telegram
- Push notifications
so alerts reach you immediately.
Final Recommendation
A startup can operate safely with:
- 5 URL monitors
- 1 heartbeat monitor
- 1 SSL monitor
- 1 domain monitor
That's enough to catch most critical failures before customers notice.