What is the difference between Checkly and Incident.io?

Checkly is best for DevOps teams wanting monitoring as code, while Incident.io is best for Engineering teams wanting structured incident management. Checkly starts at Free and Incident.io starts at $16/user/mo.

Is Checkly or Incident.io cheaper?

Checkly starts at Free with a free tier. Incident.io starts at $16/user/mo.

Is there a free alternative to Incident.io?

Yes, Checkly offers a free tier (Free for 5 checks).

Checkly vs Incident.io

Checkly is API and browser monitoring with Playwright tests, deployed via code, while Incident.io is incident management platform with Slack-native workflows and post-incident learning. The biggest difference up front: Checkly is free, while Incident.io starts at $16/user/mo. Checkly is built for devops teams wanting monitoring as code, whereas Incident.io targets engineering teams wanting structured incident management.

At a glance

	Checkly	Incident.io
Best for	DevOps teams wanting monitoring as code	Engineering teams wanting structured incident management
Starting price	Free	$16/user/mo
Free tier	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	—
Open source	—	—
API Checks	✓	—
Alerts	✓	—
Monitoring as Code	✓	—
On-Call	—	✓
Playwright	✓	—
Post-Mortems	—	✓
Slack-Native	—	✓
Workflows	—	✓

Checkly

Strengths

Includes Monitoring as Code as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Includes Playwright as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Free for 5 checks — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes api checks alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Developer-oriented tooling may not suit non-technical team members
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in monitoring
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Checkly → Full review

Incident.io

Strengths

Includes Slack-Native as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Includes Workflows as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Pricing starts at $16/user/mo, which includes the full monitoring feature set
Includes on-call alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Starts at $16/user/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in monitoring
Relatively new (founded 2020) — the feature set and integrations are still maturing

Try Incident.io → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Checkly is completely free (Free for 5 checks), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Incident.io starts at $16/user/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Checkly offers API Checks, Alerts and Monitoring as Code that Incident.io lacks. Incident.io brings On-Call, Post-Mortems and Slack-Native that Checkly does not have.

Team fit: Checkly is geared toward small teams teams, while Incident.io is aimed at mid-size teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Checkly's biggest strengths are: includes monitoring as code as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows. includes playwright as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows. Incident.io's biggest strengths are: includes slack-native as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows. includes workflows as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows.

Watch out for: With Checkly, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Incident.io, the main complaint is that starts at $16/user/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Checkly if...

You need a tool built for devops teams wanting monitoring as code
Budget is a hard constraint — Checkly is free, Incident.io is not
You specifically need API Checks and Alerts
You care about includes playwright as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Checkly is designed for

Choose Incident.io if...

You need a tool built for engineering teams wanting structured incident management
You specifically need On-Call and Post-Mortems
You care about includes workflows as a core feature, purpose-built for monitoring workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Incident.io is designed for