What is the difference between Datadog and Checkly?

Datadog is best for Engineering teams running complex, multi-service infrastructure at scale, while Checkly is best for DevOps teams wanting monitoring as code. Datadog starts at $15/host/mo and Checkly starts at Free.

Is Datadog or Checkly cheaper?

Datadog starts at $15/host/mo with a free tier. Checkly starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Checkly?

Both Datadog and Checkly offer free tiers.

Datadog vs Checkly

Datadog is cloud-scale monitoring and observability platform for infrastructure, applications, and logs, while Checkly is API and browser monitoring with Playwright tests, deployed via code. The biggest difference up front: Checkly is free, while Datadog starts at $15/host/mo. Datadog is built for engineering teams running complex, multi-service infrastructure at scale, whereas Checkly targets devops teams wanting monitoring as code.

At a glance

	Datadog	Checkly
Best for	Engineering teams running complex, multi-service infrastructure at scale	DevOps teams wanting monitoring as code
Starting price	$15/host/mo	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
API Checks	—	✓
APM	✓	—
Alerting	✓	—
Alerts	—	✓
Dashboards	✓	—
Infrastructure Monitoring	✓	—
Log Management	✓	—
Monitoring as Code	—	✓
Playwright	—	✓

Datadog

Strengths

Most comprehensive monitoring platform available
750+ integrations covering virtually every technology
Powerful dashboards and alerting with anomaly detection
Unified view of infrastructure, APM, logs, and security

Weaknesses

Pricing is complex and gets very expensive at scale
Each module (APM, logs, RUM) billed separately
Can be overwhelming to configure and navigate
Vendor lock-in with proprietary query language

Try Datadog → Full review

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

The bottom line

Pricing: Checkly is completely free (Free for 5 checks), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Datadog starts at $15/host/mo, but Free for up to 5 hosts with basic metrics. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Datadog offers APM, Alerting and Dashboards that Checkly lacks. Checkly brings API Checks, Alerts and Monitoring as Code that Datadog does not have.

Team fit: Datadog is geared toward enterprise teams, while Checkly is aimed at small 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: Datadog's biggest strengths are: most comprehensive monitoring platform available. 750+ integrations covering virtually every technology. 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.

Watch out for: With Datadog, users commonly note that pricing is complex and gets very expensive at scale. With Checkly, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Datadog if...

You need a tool built for engineering teams running complex, multi-service infrastructure at scale
You specifically need APM and Alerting
You care about 750+ integrations covering virtually every technology
Your team size fits the enterprise profile Datadog is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 5 hosts with basic metrics

Choose Checkly if...

You need a tool built for devops teams wanting monitoring as code
Budget is a hard constraint — Checkly is free, Datadog 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