MySQL AB doesn't implement anything in MySQL until they can find a way to do it efficiently and, often, more efficiently than other systems. So although I don't have experience with benchmarking JSON_TABLEs or similar new features, their development philosophy alone suggests that version 8 for the latest features would be a safe jump without sacrificing system performance.
Pingdom provides reliable peace-of-mind monitoring for websites, along with usable load time info for key pages over time.
It confirms that everything's still working, even when I'm not :-)
For a basic website, the free version of Pingdom provides enough checks to have a few URLs watching the live site, with enough additional left over to check on admin systems, dev/test environments etc..
Websites that need more monitoring than what is provided in the free version are easily worth the minimum expense of a paid package, with far more checks, sophistication, and functionality.
Written without prejudice: I'm not connected with Pingdom in any way. I've used them for a decade+ for website monitoring and it's been a good service.
