Checkly alternative: Uptimely vs Checkly
Checkly is a synthetic monitoring platform built for developers: you write Playwright scripts, keep them in your repository, deploy them with a CLI, and Checkly runs them as browser checks from its global locations. Uptimely is the simpler shape — always-on uptime checks bundled with status pages, incident management and on-call escalation on a flat plan. The two overlap on the question of whether a service is up, and diverge sharply either side of it, which is what this page is for.
Where Checkly is strong
Checkly's browser checks are real Playwright scripts driving a real browser, so a check can sign in, walk a checkout and assert on what it renders — genuine end-to-end testing rather than a status code. Its Team plan runs from all 22 of its global locations with a private-location option, supports 10-second synthetic-check frequency and visual regression testing, and its monitoring-as-code workflow puts a check in the same pull request as the feature it covers. The free Hobby plan is real work too: 10 uptime monitors, 10,000 API check runs and 1,000 browser check runs a month, hard-capped so it cannot bill you by surprise. Uptimely has nothing that competes with the browser half of that: its synthetic and custom-JavaScript monitors run a sandboxed script with network access but no browser and no DOM, so they can exercise an API sequence and cannot test a page a customer would see.
Where Uptimely differs
Checkly bills uptime monitoring by monitor count and synthetic checks by run. Detect Starter is $29/month billed monthly ($24/month billed annually), with 50 uptime monitors, 25,000 API runs and 3,000 browser runs; synthetic overages cost $2.60 per 10,000 API runs and $6.50 per 1,000 browser runs. Faster synthetic checks consume more runs. Uptimely's Pro is $29/month flat for unlimited monitors at 1-minute checks. Checkly also offers Communicate status pages and incident communication: Hobby includes 20 services and 250 subscribers; Communicate Starter is a separate $12/month subscription with 25 services and 500 subscribers. Uptimely bundles status pages, incident timelines and on-call duty policies with escalation on every plan, including Free, with unlimited status pages on Pro.
| Feature | Uptimely | Checkly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per plan — unlimited monitors on Pro | Uptime by monitor count; synthetics by run — Starter overage $2.60/10k API, $6.50/1k browser; Communicate priced separately |
| Scripted checks | Synthetic & custom-JavaScript monitors — a sandboxed script with fetch, no browser or DOM | Playwright scripts in a real browser, kept in your repo and deployed by CLI; visual regression on Team |
| Probe locations | One vantage point | 6 public locations (Hobby, Starter); all 22 plus a private location (Team) |
| Team members | 3 (Free) / 25 (Pro) | 1 (Hobby) · 3 (Starter) · 10 (Team) |
| Telemetry / APM | OTLP logs, traces & metrics; Prometheus /metrics | — (synthetic check results, not an OTLP backend) |
| Self-hosting | No (SaaS) | No (SaaS) |
Checkly plan names, monthly and annual prices, quotas, locations, users and synthetic overage rates are quoted from https://www.checklyhq.com/pricing/, including its first-party pricing module and renderer, fetched 2026-10-22. Detect Starter is $29/month billed monthly or $24/month billed annually. Communicate is a separate product; Starter is $12/month billed monthly. Status-page and incident-communication behavior is documented at https://www.checklyhq.com/docs/communicate/status-pages/overview/, fetched the same day. Alert-channel documentation was read 2026-09-02 at https://www.checklyhq.com/docs/alerting-and-retries/alert-channels/. No built-in on-call scheduling limit was verified. Uptimely figures reflect its current plans.
Pricing and plan limits (October 2026)
Compare every vendor’s uptime monitoring pricing. Each verified cell links to its source and check date.
| Vendor | Free tier | Entry paid plan (USD/month) | Minimum uptime check interval | Monitors included | Status pages | On-call and alerting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UptimelyHosted plans per project. Pro includes 25 members. Aggregate outbound check budgets: 10/minute on Free and 5000/minute on Pro. SMS/voice quotas are not published. | Yes — $0; 10 monitors, 1 status page, 3 membersSource · | Pro $29/month USD, billed monthlySource · | Free: 60 secondsSource · Paid: 60 secondsSource · | Free: 10Source · Paid: UnlimitedSource · | Free: 1; 1000 subscribers/pageSource · Paid: Unlimited; 25000 subscribers/pageSource · | Incidents, alerts & on-call on Free; Everything in Free on Pro. SMS/voice quotas not published.Source · |
| ChecklyDetect uptime monitors and synthetic runs are distinct. Communicate status pages have a separate subscription; page counts are not published in the pricing table. | Yes — Hobby; 10 uptime monitors, 10,000 API and 1,000 browser runs/monthSource · | $29/month — Detect Starter, billed monthlySource · | Free: 2 minutes — uptime monitorsSource · Paid: 1 minute — Detect Starter uptime monitorsSource · | Free: 10 uptime monitorsSource · Paid: 50 uptime monitors — Detect StarterSource · | Free: Communicate Hobby: 20 services, 250 subscribersSource · Paid: Communicate Starter: 25 services, 500 subscribers; separate $12/month subscriptionSource · | Hobby: 0 SMS / 0 calls; Detect Starter: 100 SMS/month / 0 calls; incident-tool integrations start on TeamSource · |
Uptimely's Free plan has 10 monitors, 1 status page and 1-minute checks, with no credit card. Pro comes with a 14-day free trial.
Start free →Is Uptimely a good Checkly alternative?
If you need scripted browser journeys — sign in, add to cart, check out — Uptimely cannot replace Checkly's browser checks. For uptime monitoring, compare Checkly's monitor allowances and separate Communicate status-page subscription with Uptimely's flat plan, which combines monitoring, status pages, incidents and on-call escalation. Checkly has a free entry point too; the right fit depends on the checks and operational features you need.
Does Uptimely run Playwright browser checks like Checkly?
No. Uptimely does run scripted checks — its Synthetic Monitor and Custom JavaScript Code types execute a script you write, with network access, in a sandbox — but there is no browser and no DOM behind them, so they can walk an API sequence and cannot test the page a customer actually sees. Checkly's browser checks are Playwright scripts driving a real browser, versioned alongside your application. That is a different and deeper capability, and if it is your requirement, Checkly is the right tool.
How does Checkly's pricing compare to Uptimely's?
Checkly prices uptime monitors by count and synthetic checks by run. Detect Starter is $29/month billed monthly ($24/month billed annually), including 50 uptime monitors, 25,000 API runs and 3,000 browser runs. Synthetic overages are $2.60 per 10,000 API runs and $6.50 per 1,000 browser runs. Communicate status pages have a free Hobby tier; Communicate Starter is a separate $12/month subscription. Uptimely's Pro is $29/month with unlimited monitors and status pages at 1-minute check intervals, plus incident management and on-call escalation.
Does Checkly include on-call escalation?
Checkly publishes incident-tool integrations starting on Team; its alert-channel documentation lists PagerDuty, Opsgenie, incident.io and others for on-call response. We did not verify a built-in scheduling or escalation allowance. Checkly does provide its own Communicate status pages, manual incidents and planned maintenance, with incident automation on Team and Enterprise. Uptimely includes on-call duty policies with escalation rules on every plan, including Free.
Which one checks from more locations?
Checkly, clearly. Its Hobby and Starter plans run from 6 public locations and its Team plan from all 22, with a private-location option. Uptimely probes from a single vantage point today; a second network is on the roadmap and is not shipped. If telling a regional outage apart from a global one matters to you, that is a real reason to choose Checkly.
Other comparisons
Verified by the Uptimely team.