PulseAPI vs Checkly
A simpler alternative to Checkly
Checkly is a developer-focused monitoring platform built around the "monitoring as code" philosophy. It integrates with CI/CD pipelines via Playwright and offers programmatic check definitions. The Starter plan is $30/month. While excellent for teams that want checks defined in code, it adds complexity for teams that just want to monitor APIs and manage incidents.
Feature comparison
How PulseAPI stacks up against Checkly on the features that matter.
Dashboard UI with assertions
Code-first (JavaScript/TypeScript) + UI
10 seconds (Pro)
10 seconds (on higher plans)
Built-in with custom domains and branding
Basic status page on paid plans
Built-in with postmortems and auto-incidents
Not built-in, integrates with PagerDuty/OpsGenie
Built-in rotation and escalation
Not built-in, relies on third-party
API and webhooks
Native CLI, GitHub Actions, Vercel integration
Not available (API-focused)
Playwright-based browser checks
API-driven with scoped API keys
First-class with Checkly CLI and Terraform
$19/mo (Basic), $49/mo (Pro)
$30/mo (Starter), custom (Scale)
Why teams switch to PulseAPI
The specific advantages that make PulseAPI the better choice for growing teams.
Complete incident workflow
Checkly monitors and alerts, but incidents live in PagerDuty or OpsGenie. PulseAPI handles detection, incident creation, timeline tracking, postmortems, and subscriber notifications — one tool, no extra cost or integration.
Simpler for API monitoring
Checkly's power comes from code-based checks. If your need is "monitor these 30 API endpoints and alert when they break," PulseAPI does that with a clean UI — no Playwright scripts, no CLI, no deploy pipeline for checks.
Built-in on-call and escalation
Checkly requires PagerDuty, OpsGenie, or similar for on-call management. PulseAPI has rotation schedules and multi-step escalation built in, eliminating an extra vendor and reducing cost.
Lower starting price
PulseAPI Basic at $19/month includes incident management, status pages, and 25 endpoints. Checkly Starter at $30/month does not include incident management or on-call — those require additional tools.
Where Checkly has the edge
No tool is perfect for everyone. Here is where Checkly may be the better fit.
Monitoring as code — define checks in JavaScript/TypeScript, version-controlled alongside your app
Playwright-based browser checks for testing full user flows and SPAs
Excellent CI/CD integration with GitHub Actions, Vercel, and the Checkly CLI for shift-left testing
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about switching from Checkly to PulseAPI.
If you want monitoring-as-code with Playwright browser checks integrated into CI/CD, Checkly is purpose-built for that. If you want a complete monitoring and incident response platform with a UI-first approach, PulseAPI is the better fit.
PulseAPI offers a REST API with scoped API keys for programmatic endpoint management. You can create and configure monitors via API calls in your CI/CD pipeline. It is not as opinionated as Checkly CLI, but it supports automation.
No. Checkly integrates with PagerDuty, OpsGenie, and similar tools for incident management. PulseAPI includes incident management with timelines, postmortems, subscriber notifications, and auto-incident creation at no extra cost.
For most teams, yes. Checkly Starter is $30/month and you still need PagerDuty ($21/user/month) or OpsGenie for on-call. PulseAPI Pro at $49/month includes monitoring, incidents, on-call, and status pages — typically saving hundreds per month versus a Checkly + PagerDuty stack.
Ready to switch from Checkly?
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