GlitchTip: Free Error Tracking That Lets an AI Agent Help Fix Your Bugs

Most businesses find out their website or software is broken when a customer complains. By then you have already lost the sale, or the customer. There is a simple, free way to see problems as they happen, and a newer way to get many of them fixed faster. Here is how it works, in everyday language.

The problem: software breaks quietly

Your website, booking form, customer portal or internal tool can fail without anyone telling you. A form stops sending. A page errors out for people on one phone. A connection to your payment or CRM system drops after an update.

Most of the time nobody reports it. The customer simply leaves. You only hear about it days later, if at all, and then your team has to work out what happened from a vague message like "it didn't work."

What error tracking is

Error tracking is a tool that sits quietly behind your software and writes down every time something goes wrong. For each problem it records what failed, where it failed, how many times and when it started.

Think of it as a smoke alarm for your website or app. You do not look at it all day. It tells you when something needs attention, and which problem to look at first.

What GlitchTip is

GlitchTip is an open-source error tracking tool. "Open source" means the software itself is free to use and anyone can run it. It is built to work with the same connection tools as Sentry, a well-known error tracking service, so many apps that already support Sentry can send their errors to GlitchTip instead.

It does the essentials small teams need:

• Collects errors from your website or app in one place.
• Groups repeats together, so one bug that happened 400 times shows up as one item and not 400.
• Alerts you when something new breaks.
• Checks that your site is up, so you know if it goes offline.

Why it can cost so little

Many monitoring services charge by how many errors and users you send them, so the bill grows as your software grows. Because GlitchTip is open source, you can run it on a server you already control (this is called self-hosting). There is no licence fee, and you pay only for the server it runs on.

That is a good fit if you run several small apps or sites and want to keep your software costs down. The trade-off is that someone has to set it up and keep it updated. That is a one-off job, and it is part of what I do.

The part I like most: GlitchTip has an API

An API is simply a way for one program to talk to another. GlitchTip has one, which means other software can read the list of problems it has recorded, without anyone opening a screen and copying them out.

That is where AI helps. A coding assistant such as Claude Code can read the issues straight from GlitchTip, look at the error and the place in the code where it happened, and suggest a fix.

How the loop works

1. GlitchTip records an error. Something fails in your software and it is written down with the details.
2. The AI agent reads the issue. It collects the open problems through the API.
3. It finds the cause and proposes a fix. It looks through the code, works out what went wrong and writes a change.
4. A person checks it. The change is tested and reviewed before anything goes live.
5. The issue is closed. GlitchTip tells you if the same error comes back.

What you get out of it

• Fewer surprises. You hear about problems from your tools, not your customers.
• Small bugs get fixed in minutes and not left on a to-do list for weeks.
• A clear priority list. The problems affecting the most people are at the top.
• Lower costs. Free software, running on a server you already pay for.

When it is a good fit, and when it is not

It is probably a good fit if:

• You run a website, booking system, customer portal or custom software that customers depend on.
• You pay for several tools and want to cut recurring software costs.
• You have a developer, or work with one, who can review changes.

It may not be worth it if:

• Your site is a simple brochure page that rarely changes.
• You use a hosted platform where you cannot add monitoring or change the code.
• Nobody is available to review fixes. In that case, start with the error tracking alone.

GlitchTip is deliberately simpler than the larger paid services, so if you need very advanced features, a bigger tool may suit you better. I will tell you honestly which side you are on.

How to get started

1. List what you run. Websites, apps, forms and connections between tools.
2. Set up GlitchTip. Self-hosted on your server, or use a hosted option if you would rather not manage one.
3. Connect your software. A small change so errors are sent to it.
4. Set up alerts. Choose who is told, and how.
5. Add the AI helper later. Once errors are flowing and you trust the results, connect an assistant through the API, with human review.

This fits with the wider idea of letting tools do routine work for you. If you want more on that, read the guide to business process automation, and see how custom systems compare with ready-made software.

GlitchTip, Sentry and Claude are names and trademarks of their respective owners. This website is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them. Features and pricing change, so check current details with each provider.