Free Website Status Checker

How to Check if a Website is Down

When you can't access a website, the first question is: "Is it down for everyone, or just me?" Our website status checker answers this by testing the site from our servers. If we can reach it but you can't, the problem is likely on your end -- your DNS cache, ISP, or local network might be blocking the connection.

To use the tool, simply enter a domain name (like example.com) or a full URL (like https://example.com/page). We'll send an HTTP request from our server and report back with the status code, response time, and whether the SSL certificate is valid.

Understanding HTTP Status Codes

HTTP status codes are three-digit numbers returned by a web server to indicate how it handled a request. They're grouped into five categories:

2xx Success -- These codes mean the request was successfully received, understood, and accepted. The most common is 200 OK, which means the page loaded normally.

3xx Redirection -- These codes mean the requested resource has moved. 301 Moved Permanently and 302 Found are common redirects. You can use our Redirect Checker to trace the full redirect chain.

4xx Client Errors -- These indicate a problem with the request. 404 Not Found means the page doesn't exist. 403 Forbidden means you don't have permission to access it.

5xx Server Errors -- These mean the server failed to fulfill a valid request. 500 Internal Server Error and 503 Service Unavailable are common signs that a website is experiencing problems.

Common Reasons Websites Go Down

Websites can become unavailable for many reasons. Server overload happens when traffic exceeds the server's capacity -- this is common during viral moments or product launches. Hardware failures, software bugs, and misconfigurations can also cause outages.

DNS issues are another frequent cause. If a domain's DNS records are misconfigured or if the nameservers are unreachable, browsers can't resolve the domain to an IP address. Expired domains or recently transferred domains sometimes experience DNS-related downtime as well.

SSL certificate problems can also make a site appear "down" to users. Modern browsers block access to sites with expired, self-signed, or misconfigured certificates, showing a security warning instead. You can use our SSL Certificate Checker to diagnose certificate issues in detail.

DDoS attacks, hosting provider outages, and network connectivity issues between the server and the broader internet can all cause downtime too. Checking the HTTP headers can sometimes reveal clues about what's happening on the server side.

Website Monitoring and Custom Domains

For SaaS platforms that offer custom domains to their customers, monitoring website availability is critical. When a customer maps their domain to your platform, they expect it to work reliably -- any downtime reflects poorly on both your service and their brand.

SaaSKevin automates custom domain onboarding for SaaS platforms. It verifies DNS routing records, provisions SSL certificates, and enables request routing once each domain is ready.

Rather than building custom domain infrastructure from scratch -- including DNS verification, SSL provisioning, and edge routing -- platforms use SaaSKevin to handle it through a simple API. Teams can pair this with their existing uptime monitoring stack for end-to-end production visibility.