PingRobot vs Pingdom
Pingdom has no free plan: after a 30-day trial, 10 uptime checks cost $18 a month and 50 cost $78. PingRobot is free for 10 monitors and $9 a month for 50 one-minute monitors, with SSL and domain expiry reminders, cron job heartbeats and signed webhooks included on every plan.
Pingdom plans and prices were checked on 16 October 2026 on pingdom.com/pricing (prices from the page's subscription calculator) and pingdom.com/product/uptime-monitoring. Prices are in US dollars before tax. Plans change, so check their page before you decide.
Free plans
| PingRobot Free | Pingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, permanent | No; 30-day free trial |
| Monitors | 10 | None after the trial |
| Check interval | 5 minutes | — |
| Monitor types | HTTP(S), API (JSON rules), keyword, DNS, TCP port, heartbeat (cron) | — |
| SSL certificate and domain expiry reminders | Yes | — |
| Maintenance windows | Yes | — |
| Alert channels | Email, signed webhooks | — |
| Status pages | 1, on yourname.pingrobot.io, with announcements and status, uptime and SLA badges | — |
If you want monitoring that keeps running without a card on file, Pingdom isn't an option; PingRobot's Free plan is.
Cheapest paid plans
| PingRobot Pro | Pingdom Synthetic Monitoring | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9/month, or $90/year ($7.50/month) | $18/month, or $16.50/month billed annually, for 10 uptime checks; $78/month ($71.50 annually) for 50 |
| Monitors | 50 for $9 | 10 uptime + 1 advanced check in the lowest tier |
| Check interval | 1 minute | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Heartbeat (cron job) monitors | Yes | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Webhooks | Yes, signed | Yes |
| SMS alerts | No | 50 included (more in larger tiers) |
| Other alert channels | Email, Slack, Discord, ntfy push | Email, mobile push |
| Maintenance windows | Yes | Yes |
| Status pages | 5, on your own domain, with email subscribers | Public status pages on all plans |
| Users | Owner only (10 team members on Business) | Unlimited users |
Where PingRobot is ahead
- A real free plan: 10 monitors with no trial clock and no credit card.
- Price per monitor: 50 one-minute monitors for $9 a month, where Pingdom's 50-check tier is $78 a month.
- SSL and domain expiry reminders on every plan, plus alerts when a certificate doesn't cover the host name, the intermediate is missing or the issuer changes.
- Cron job heartbeats for backups and scheduled tasks (how heartbeats work).
- Signed webhooks with an HMAC signature you can verify (webhook docs), and SLA targets with a monthly SLA email.
- Free tools: SSL checker, domain expiry checker, is it down?
- 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 Pingdom is ahead
- Transaction checks ("advanced" checks) for multi-step flows such as logins and checkouts, plus page speed monitoring and a separate real user monitoring product.
- SMS alerts included in every tier, mobile push notifications, and more than 100 probe servers worldwide.
- Unlimited users and the wider SolarWinds suite for application, infrastructure and log monitoring.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Pingdom if you need transaction checks, real user monitoring or SMS alerts, or you already use other SolarWinds products.
Choose PingRobot if you want uptime, API, DNS, SSL, domain and cron job monitoring that starts free and costs $9 a month for 50 one-minute monitors, with signed webhooks and maintenance windows on every plan.
Start monitoring free — 10 monitors, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Does Pingdom have a free plan?
No. Pingdom offers a 30-day free trial, then a paid subscription. PingRobot has a permanent Free plan with 10 monitors checked every 5 minutes, email and signed webhook alerts, SSL and domain expiry reminders and a status page.
How much does Pingdom cost compared to PingRobot?
Pingdom's pricing calculator starts at $18 a month ($16.50 a month billed annually) for 10 uptime checks, 1 advanced check and 50 SMS alerts; 50 uptime checks are $78 a month ($71.50 annually). PingRobot Pro is $9 a month or $90 a year for 50 one-minute monitors.
What does Pingdom have that PingRobot doesn't?
Transaction (multi-step) checks, page speed monitoring, real user monitoring, SMS alerts included in every tier, more than 100 probe servers, unlimited users, mobile push alerts and the wider SolarWinds observability suite.
Can I keep Pingdom and add PingRobot?
Yes. You can add PingRobot's Free plan for SSL, domain expiry and cron job monitoring next to Pingdom. Each monitor takes one URL.