AlertFox Launches Powerful Web Application Monitoring Tool (Freebies Here)

Most web application developers have been there: your monitoring system shows nothing but green lights, yet the app is down or not functioning the way it should. Traditional web monitoring services often don’t dig deep enough to detect glitches in the application code, and database or find that problems arise with bugs in Ajax, Flash or Silverlight front-end applets.

German startup iOpus is today unveiling the public beta of a product it claims offers a solution for many a developer or website owner who would like their monitoring services taken up a notch. Enter AlertFox. (free Pro accounts for 100 users, see below)

What AlertFox does is provide in-depth monitoring of rich internet applications (RIAs), offering a potential solution for many SaaS and Web 2.0 web service providers out there who are not satisfied with a simple uptime checker that only provides superficial information without detecting the root cause of problems. AlertFox runs directly from the browser (with support for both Firefox and Internet Explorer) and is capable of keeping tabs on the functioning and performance of sites built with ActiveX, AJAX, Flash, Flex, complex HTML or Silverlight technology.

Another aspect that sets AlertFox apart from most traditional monitoring services is the real-time monitoring of transactions, e.g. the entire checkout process for an e-commerce store instead of only its uptime. This should come in handy for online businesses for which a smooth buying and selling process makes all the difference in the world.

The company is following the freemium approach for its business model, which is subscription-based and as far as I can tell extremely moderately priced. Users can get started with a free account, which covers worldwide monitoring and other basic features but only supports one user and use within the Firefox browser. You’d need to sign up for a Pro account (starts at $49 per month for the time being as a promotional offer) for transaction monitoring with both Firefox and Internet Explorer, support for up to five users and 100% monitoring of Flash, Ajax and Silverlight applications.

We’d love for you to take it for a spin and tell us if it lives up to its promise, so we’ve arranged for the company to give away 100 free Pro2 accounts, valid for two years. All you need to do is quickly sign up for a free account and send an e-mail to techcrunch-at-alertfox-dot-com. The first 100 readers to do that will be upgraded without charge, and are expected to come back and share their experiences in the comments.