Better Stack alternative
A Better Stack alternative
with on-call for everyone.
Better Stack, formerly Better Uptime, is free for 10 monitors at 3-minute checks, and charges per person who goes on call. PULSX is free for 20 monitors at 1-minute checks, with on-call for 25 people.
Why teams switch
from Better Stack.
20 free monitors, not 10
Better Stack Free includes 10 monitors and heartbeats. Every PULSX account gets 20, and extra monitors come in packs of 10 from £3 a month.
Checked every minute
Better Stack Free checks every 3 minutes. PULSX checks every 60 seconds on every monitor, and tries again before it alerts.
On-call without a licence per person
Better Stack charges $34 a month for each responder. PULSX on-call rotations, escalation and overrides are part of the free plan for all 25 seats.
PULSX and Better Stack,
side by side.
| Feature | PULSX Free | Better Stack Free $0 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $0 |
| Monitors | 20 per account, packs of 10 after | 10 monitors and heartbeats |
| Check interval | 1 minute | 3 minutes |
| Status pages | As many as you need | 1 |
| Alert channels | Email, Slack, Discord, webhook, Android push | Slack and email |
| On-call rotations | Yes | $34 per responder a month |
| Phone call and SMS alerts | No | With a paid responder licence |
| 30-second checks | No | Listed on their pricing page |
| Logs, metrics and traces | No | Yes |
The Better Stack column is its free plan. Paid use is built from parts: a licence for each responder, plus packs of extra monitors, heartbeats and status pages.
What Better Stack costs
as you grow.
| Plan | Price | Monitors | Fastest check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Better Stack Free 1 status page. Slack and email alerts | $0 | 10 monitors and heartbeats | 3 minutes |
| Better Stack responder licence Unlimited phone call and SMS alerts | $34/mo each, or $29 billed yearly | 10 included | Up to 30 seconds |
| Better Stack extra monitors Extra heartbeats: 10 for $20 a month | $25/mo, or $21 billed yearly | 50 more | Up to 30 seconds |
| Better Stack extra status page Password protection is $50 a month per page | $15/mo, or $12 billed yearly | No change | No change |
| PULSX Every feature, no card | Free | 20 | 1 minute |
| PULSX with 3 packs Same features, more monitors | £8.50/mo | 50 | 1 minute |
| PULSX with 8 packs Same features, more monitors | £19.50/mo | 100 | 1 minute |
Better Stack prices are from their pricing page, read on 12 October 2026. Prices change and can differ by country, so check theirs before you decide. Better Stack showed us prices in US dollars. Their page lists checks as often as every 30 seconds, and does not say which plans get them. PULSX prices are in pounds; euro and dollar prices are on our pricing page.
What is different day to day
The free plans, side by side
Better Stack Free gives you 10 monitors and heartbeats, a 3-minute check interval, 1 status page, and alerts by Slack and email. PULSX gives you 20 monitors, a 1-minute interval, as many status pages as you need, and alerts by email, Slack, Discord, webhook and Android push.
What it costs when a team goes on call
Better Stack prices on-call per person: each responder is $34 a month, or $29 billed yearly. A rota of 4 people is $136 a month before any extra monitors. PULSX on-call has rotations in your time zone, overrides for cover, and escalation steps, for up to 25 people at no cost.
Phone calls at 3am
This is a real point in favour of Better Stack. A paid responder licence includes unlimited phone call and SMS alerts. PULSX does not call or text. The alert that reaches a phone on PULSX is a push notification to the Android app.
Everything beyond uptime
Better Stack is a wider product. It also collects logs, metrics and traces, tracks errors, and can run browser checks written in Playwright. PULSX does uptime, SSL tracking, heartbeats for cron jobs, status pages, incidents and on-call, and stops there.
Status pages
Better Stack includes 1 status page and charges $15 a month for each extra public page, with further charges for password protection and white-labelling. PULSX status pages are free, with themes, announcements and email subscribers. PULSX does not serve a status page on your own domain.
Stay or switch,
an honest split.
Stay with Better Stack if
- A phone call or a text message must wake the person on call.
- You want logs, metrics, traces and error tracking in the same product.
- You need 30-second checks, or browser checks written in Playwright.
Switch to PULSX if
- You are on the free plan and 3-minute checks or 10 monitors are not enough.
- Several people share on-call and a licence per person adds up.
- You need more than 1 status page.
- You only use the uptime, status page and on-call parts.
Move over
in an afternoon.
01
Create a PULSX account
Free, with no card. Invite your team from settings and give people roles.
02
Recreate your monitors
Add each URL with the interval, expected status codes and alert channels that match your Better Stack setup. Add heartbeats for your cron jobs.
03
Cut over
Set up the on-call rotation, run a test alert, watch a few checks land, then cancel the Better Stack subscription.
Questions
Is Better Stack the same as Better Uptime?+
What does the Better Stack free plan include?+
How much does Better Stack cost?+
Why is PULSX free when Better Stack charges?+
Do you have phone call alerts like Better Stack?+
Can I migrate my status page?+
Uptime, status pages and on-call, free.
20 monitors per account, 1-minute checks and on-call for 25 people. No card.