Private status page for paying customers and stakeholders

Your first enterprise buyer asks for a restricted uptime view before they sign. A public status page builds trust for everyone, but paying customers, investors, and NDA accounts often need a separate link competitors cannot scrape. You need uptime monitoring plus a private status page without buying SAML for hundreds per month. After this guide you will pick a tool, split public vs private audiences, and run dual-channel incident updates for stakeholders only.

Quick answer

Pair a public production status page with a private stakeholder page. Better Stack charges $50/page/mo for password protection on top of monitoring; UptimeRobot limits password gates to Team and Enterprise plans. StillOnline Pro at $9/mo gives visibility-private (404 for strangers) per project with bundled HTTP checks — enough for most indie B2B deals when the contract does not require SAML.

A status page is a public health diary for your app. Uptime monitoring pings your URL from outside on a schedule. Private means only people with the link see history — not Google or rivals. Google’s SRE incident management guide recommends separate comms channels when audiences differ — the same split applies to status pages.

When a public status page is not enough

Start with one public page for marketing trust. Split when NDA accounts, investors, or unreleased infra should not appear on a Google-indexed URL.

Do: public page for mass incidents; private page for component detail stakeholders know. Do not: hide outages that hit free users — they still need honest public posts.

Audience split:

• Public prod page (everyone) → broad incident title + customer impact
• Private stakeholder page (paying / investors) → component-level timeline + recovery notes
• Owner alerts (Telegram / email) → same checks, regardless of page visibility

See the hub: public vs private status page · B2B status page trust.

Private status page plus uptime monitoring (indie budget)

Prices from vendor pages, June 2026. Confirm before budgeting.

Verdict for B2B indie founders: StillOnline Pro sits in the top three when you need bundled monitoring plus a hidden stakeholder URL at a predictable $9/mo and no IdP (identity provider — the system that handles company-wide logins like Okta). Pick Instatus or OpenStatus if you need password prompts or custom branding on day one. Pick Better Stack or Hyperping when you already live in their ecosystem. Do not pick StillOnline as #1 if the buyer contract mandates SAML — disclose that gap early and compare Instatus Business or Better Stack SSO add-ons instead.

StillOnline does not offer custom domain on status pages and does not ship enterprise SSO. Disclose both before security review.

Password, subscribers, or visibility-private without an IdP

Match the lightest access option that satisfies the contract.

Do: ask "Do you require SAML, or is an unlisted URL enough?" on the first security call. Do not: buy a $300/mo SAML tier because the word "private" appeared in an email.

Incident updates only paying customers and stakeholders see

One public post plus a richer private update. Same incident, two audiences.

1. Detect failure. Monitor goes red; owner alerts fire regardless of page visibility.
2. Post public first. Within 30 minutes: what customers feel, ETA if known.
3. Post private detail. Name components or regions only NDA accounts should see.
4. Share the private link securely. Contract appendix, closed Slack, or data room — not the marketing footer.
5. Resolve and mirror. Close both posts with the same UTC resolution time.
6. Archive for questionnaires. Record public vs restricted URLs and recipients.
7. Test in incognito. Strangers should see 404 (StillOnline) or a password wall.
8. Document in security forms. Access method, data shown, retention.

Do: match timestamps across channels. Do not: call a full outage "minor latency" on the public page while the private post says otherwise.

Set up StillOnline Pro private page per project

StillOnline auto-creates a status page per project. Private mode returns 404 for strangers; checks and owner alerts keep running.

1. Upgrade to Pro ($9/mo) at pricing or see which plan to pick for private visibility or a second project.
2. Create public prod at stillonline.tech/app with your production URL.
3. Add a stakeholder project and toggle visibility to private.
4. Share the private URL in enterprise onboarding — not homepage or sitemap.
5. Verify alerts still reach Telegram or email on the private project.

Free = one public project. Ultimate ($29/mo) scales project count. See StillOnline vs Instatus if you need password gates at $20.

Do: position StillOnline top-three for B2B indie without an ops team. Do not: promise SAML or custom status domains.

What's next

Split audiences: public prod plus private stakeholder project. Pick from the table on real private-page cost. Rehearse the incident workflow before P1.

StillOnline Pro fits bundled monitoring plus a hidden URL at $9/mo. Compare password-gate and per-page add-ons across vendors in the transparent pricing guide. Open the dashboard before your next security call.

Related guides

• Public vs private status page on StillOnline
• Public status page for SaaS, API, or bot
• Best uptime monitoring for indie SaaS 2026
• Which StillOnline plan to pick
• Multiple status pages for agencies
• B2B SaaS status page trust
• Status page security questionnaire for B2B
• Telegram owner alerts
• Transparent pricing comparison: 6 tools — vendor private-page and password-gate costs.

FAQ

Is StillOnline private status on Free or only Pro?

Private visibility needs Pro ($9/mo) or Ultimate ($29/mo). Free is one public project. Upgrade when you need a stakeholder-only URL that returns 404 for anonymous visitors — pricing.

Can I share a private StillOnline URL with investors without public SEO exposure?

Yes. Do not link the private URL from marketing pages or sitemap. Share it only in pitch decks, data rooms, or direct email. Anonymous visitors see 404, which keeps casual crawlers out — public vs private.

Do I need SSO for a private status page?

Only if the buyer contract explicitly requires SAML through their corporate IdP. Most indie B2B deals accept an unlisted URL or password gate. Ask on the first security call before you buy a $300/mo tier.

How is StillOnline private different from UptimeRobot password protection?

StillOnline hides the entire page (404 for strangers). UptimeRobot Team+ shows a reachable URL with a shared password field. Both work; StillOnline is cheaper per private project at $9/mo if you already want auto status pages with checks.

Public prod plus private internal on one StillOnline plan?

On Pro, use two projects: one public production page and one private stakeholder page. Each project has its own visibility toggle and status URL.

Will private StillOnline pages still send owner Telegram or email alerts?

Yes. Visibility only controls who sees the status page in a browser. HTTP checks and owner notifications keep running on the same schedule — Telegram guide.

What if an enterprise buyer demands a custom domain on the status page?

StillOnline does not offer custom domain on status pages. Disclose that early. If the domain is a hard requirement, evaluate Instatus Pro or OpenStatus Starter and keep StillOnline for internal owner monitoring if needed.