Uptime vs Checkly
No-code monitor setup for teams who want uptime checks without writing and maintaining test scripts.
Uptime vs Checkly
Checkly is built around code-based synthetic tests (Playwright scripts) for deep browser checks; Uptime is a no-code alternative for teams who need reliable HTTP, DNS, TCP, cron-job, and multi-step flow monitoring without a test suite to maintain.
| Category | Uptime | Checkly |
|---|---|---|
| Setup style | No-code form | Code-based (Playwright scripts) |
| Pricing model | Usage-based (pay per ping) | Per-check-run pricing |
| DNS monitoring | Included | Not a core feature |
| Cron job monitoring | Included | Not available |
| Browser-based checks | Not included | Included |
| Multi-step flow monitoring | Included (HTTP-level) | Included, written as code |
| Status pages | Included | Included |
Why teams switch to Uptime
No-code setup
Create a monitor by filling in a form, not writing and maintaining a script.
DNS & cron job monitoring
Covers monitor types outside Checkly's browser-test focus.
Fast to configure
No test runner or scripting language to learn.
Predictable pricing
Pay per ping, not per script execution.
When Checkly might be better
We believe in being transparent. Here's when Checkly could be the right choice.
Playwright browser testing is what Checkly is for
Driving a checkout as a real browser session — clicking, filling, and asserting on what renders — is their core product, and Uptime cannot do it at all.
Monitoring-as-code is a genuinely better model for some teams
Checkly monitors live in your repo, get reviewed in pull requests, and deploy with your app. Uptime's monitors are configured in a dashboard and through its API.
Their multi-step checks can compute, branch, and generate data
Uptime's flow monitors chain requests and assert on what comes back, but a spec is a fixed sequence with no branching and no generated values. A check that needs a unique signup address every run belongs in Checkly.
First-class Terraform and Pulumi providers
If your infrastructure is already declared as code, Checkly drops straight into that workflow. Uptime offers a REST API and nothing more.
Perfect for teams that don't want to maintain test scripts
If nobody on the team wants to own a Playwright suite just to know whether the site is up, a form-configured monitor gets you the same alert with nothing to maintain.
Real cost comparison
See how much you could save for a typical monitoring setup.
| Use case | Checkly | Uptime | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 monitors at 30-min intervals | $24/mo | $5/mo | ~$228/year |
| 25 monitors at 60-min intervals | $24/mo | $5/mo | ~$228/year |
| 50 monitors at 60-min intervals | $45/mo | $5/mo | ~$480/year |
| Team of 5 people | +$60/mo seats | $0 extra | No seat pricing |
Estimates based on typical usage patterns. Checkly pricing can change and your actual cost depends on your setup.
Getting started
Create your monitor
Point Uptime at the URL, domain, port, or scheduled job you want to track.
Choose how you're alerted
Connect email, Slack, Discord, or a webhook. Set cooldowns to avoid alert fatigue.
Watch the dashboard
See uptime history, response times, and status update as checks run automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Uptime support full browser-based synthetic tests?
Not in a browser. Flow monitors chain several HTTP requests with assertions between them — sign in, read the token back, call the endpoint it authorises — so a broken login is caught at the HTTP level. Nothing renders a page or runs client-side code, so if the failure you need to catch only appears in a browser, Checkly is the right tool.
Do I need to write any code to use Uptime?
No — every monitor is configured through a simple form.
Switch to Uptime
Create your first monitor in under 2 minutes. No credit card required to start.