PingRobot vs Checkly
Checkly is a synthetic-monitoring platform for engineering teams, and 50 one-minute uptime monitors cost $24 a month on its Starter plan. PingRobot gives you 50 one-minute monitors for $9, and its Free plan already includes maintenance windows, domain expiry reminders and SLA reports that Checkly's free tier doesn't list.
Checkly plans and prices were checked on 16 October 2026 on checklyhq.com/pricing. Checkly prices shown are billed annually; the page has a monthly toggle, but monthly-billed prices were not visible in the page text, so see their pricing page. Prices are in US dollars before tax. Plans change, so check their page before you decide.
Free plans
| PingRobot Free | Checkly Hobby | |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance windows | Yes | Not on Hobby or Starter |
| Domain expiry reminders | Yes | Not listed |
| SLA target with badge and monthly SLA email | Yes | Not listed |
| History | 30 days | 7 days raw, 30 days aggregated |
| Uptime monitors | 10 | 10 |
| Fastest interval | 5 minutes | 2 minutes |
| Monitor types | HTTP(S), API (JSON rules), keyword, DNS, TCP port, heartbeat | URL, TCP, DNS, ICMP, SSL, gRPC, traceroute, heartbeat |
| API and browser checks | API monitors (one request with JSON rules) within the 10; no browser checks | 10,000 API and 1,000 browser runs a month |
| Locations | Failures re-checked from a second region | 6 |
| Alert channels | Email, signed webhooks | Email, Slack, webhooks |
| Status page | 1, on yourname.pingrobot.io, with announcements and status, uptime and SLA badges | 20 services, 250 subscribers |
Checkly's free tier is aimed at developers who want to try scripted API and browser tests. PingRobot's is aimed at keeping sites, certificates, domains and cron jobs watched, with quiet periods for planned maintenance and an SLA report you can share.
Cheapest paid plans
| PingRobot Pro | Checkly Starter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9/month, or $90/year ($7.50/month) | $24/month billed annually; status pages (Communicate) from $9/month more |
| Uptime monitors | 50 | 50 |
| Fastest interval | 1 minute | 1 minute |
| Maintenance windows | Yes | Not on Hobby or Starter |
| History | 1 year | 7 days raw, 30 days aggregated |
| Alert channels | Email, signed webhooks, Slack, Discord, ntfy push | Email, Slack, webhooks, 100 SMS a month |
| Status pages | 5, on your own domain, with email subscribers, included | Custom domain, 500 subscribers (Communicate plan) |
| Users | 1 (10 team members on Business) | 3 |
| API and browser checks | API monitors (one request with JSON rules) within the 50; no browser checks | 25,000 API and 3,000 browser runs a month |
Where PingRobot is ahead
- Price: the same 50 one-minute monitors for $9 a month instead of $24, with 5 status pages on your own domains and email subscribers included, where Checkly prices custom-domain status pages separately (Communicate).
- Maintenance windows on every plan, where Checkly leaves them out of Hobby and Starter.
- Longer history: 1 year on Pro against 30 days of aggregated data on Starter.
- Domain expiry reminders and certificate problem alerts (host name mismatch, missing intermediate, issuer change), plus SLA targets with a monthly SLA email.
- Signed webhooks you can verify (webhook docs), and no scripts or check runs to budget.
- Room to grow: Business is $29 a month ($290 a year) for 250 monitors checked every 30 seconds, 100 status pages, 2 years of history and 10 team members as admins or viewers.
- Automation on every plan: a REST API with an OpenAPI 3.1 document, and a remote MCP server so Claude, Cursor or VS Code can tell you what is down and add monitors for you.
Where Checkly is ahead
- Synthetic monitoring: Playwright browser checks and scripted API checks, written and deployed as code with the Checkly CLI, Terraform or Pulumi.
- More monitor types and locations: ICMP, gRPC and traceroute, a 2-minute free interval, and up to 22 locations on Team.
- Team features: SMS and phone alerts, team seats and AI root cause analysis.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Checkly if your team wants scripted browser and API tests in CI and production, managed as code.
Choose PingRobot if you want to know the moment a site, API, certificate, domain or cron job fails, with maintenance windows and SLA reports included, for free or $9 a month for 50 monitors.
Start monitoring free — 10 monitors, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Is PingRobot cheaper than Checkly for uptime monitoring?
Yes. PingRobot Pro is $9 a month or $90 a year for 50 monitors checked every minute. Checkly Starter has 50 uptime monitors with a 1-minute maximum frequency for $24 a month billed annually; status pages (Communicate) are priced separately from $9 a month billed annually.
How do the free plans compare?
Both have 10 uptime monitors. Checkly Hobby checks every 2 minutes from 6 locations and adds 10,000 API and 1,000 browser check runs a month. PingRobot Free checks every 5 minutes and includes maintenance windows, domain expiry reminders, SLA reports and 30 days of history.
What does Checkly have that PingRobot doesn't?
Playwright browser checks and scripted API checks, monitoring as code with a CLI, Terraform and Pulumi, ICMP, gRPC and traceroute monitors, more locations, SMS and phone alerts on paid plans, team seats and AI root cause analysis.
Do I need Checkly if I only want uptime and certificate monitoring?
Not necessarily. Checkly is built for testing and synthetic monitoring by engineering teams. If you want to know when sites, APIs, certificates, domains or cron jobs fail, PingRobot covers that with less setup.