Checkly vs UptimeRobot

From $40 per month (indicative, Team plan by check runs)

From $7 per month (indicative, Solo)

Priced by check runs; browser checks cost more than API checks, and frequency multiplies the bill.

One of the best free tiers in infrastructure tooling; paid plans are still inexpensive.

Free plan with a monthly check-run allowance covering a small site.

50 monitors at 5-minute intervals, free forever.

Widely used

Checkly · since 2018

Widely used

UptimeRobot · since 2010

• One Playwright script serves as both an E2E test and a production monitor.
• Monitoring-as-code fits GitOps workflows and code review.
• Excellent developer experience and clear, published pricing.

• Free tier covers what most small projects actually need.
• Five-minute setup with no configuration to learn.
• Status pages included even on lower tiers.

• Playwright-centric; teams on other frameworks get less benefit.
• Browser checks at high frequency across many locations get expensive.
• Not a full observability platform — no APM or log management.

• No browser-based transaction monitoring — availability only.
• Basic alerting logic; expect some noise from transient failures.
• Limited reporting and no observability integration.

Engineering teams already using Playwright who want production journeys monitored.

Side projects, small businesses and anyone who currently has no monitoring at all.