Checkly vs Oh Dear
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Checkly and Oh Dear.
Quick Verdict
4.1/5
Checkly
0 reviews
4.2/5
Oh Dear
0 reviews
Oh Dear is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.1). Checkly enables monitoring as code using Playwright for E2E browser checks and HTTP API checks. Define checks alongside your code in TypeScript. Global check locations. Oh Dear provides uptime monitoring, SSL certificate monitoring, broken link checking, DNS monitoring, and cron job monitoring from a single dashboard. Simple, no-frills approach.
Checkly Monitoring as code with Playwright and API checks | Oh Dear Website monitoring with SSL and broken link checks | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.1 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | paid |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $15/mo |
| Best for | Engineering teams who want to define synthetic and API monitoring tests as code in their repository and run them from global locations | Agencies and small teams who want one subscription covering uptime, SSL, broken links, DNS, cron and status pages for a roster of client sites |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | Hosted in Belgium (EU) on ISO 27001 infrastructure; ~16 check locations worldwide |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceapi access | api access |
| Visit Checkly → | Visit Oh Dear → | |
Checkly
Pros
- + True monitoring as code: TypeScript + Playwright checks versioned in your repo and deployed via CLI
- + Useful free Hobby tier and clear published plan pricing
- + 22 global check locations plus private locations for internal services on Team+
- + Full check types (HTTP, TCP, DNS, ICMP, SSL/TLS, gRPC, traceroute, heartbeat) with rich alerting and status pages
- + Local test mode in CI catches broken checks before deploy; SOC 2 since 2022
Cons
- - Usage-based billing scales with frequency x locations x checks — overage at $4 per 1,000 runs adds up
- - Developer-only tool: no point-and-click path for non-technical teams
- - Synthetic monitoring only — not a replacement for APM, logs, or metrics platforms
- - No public uptime SLA for the platform itself; best features (1-second checks, parallel scheduling) gated to Enterprise
Oh Dear
Pros
- + Every feature on every plan — no tiering of SSO, status pages, users, or API access
- + Two-location verification before firing alerts, which genuinely reduces false alarms
- + One site slot replaces uptime, SSL, broken-link, DNS, cron and Lighthouse tools at a predictable per-site price
- + EU-hosted (Belgium, ISO 27001 infrastructure) with full API and strong agency/reseller workflow
Cons
- - No free plan and no single-site tier below €15/month
- - Website/server monitoring only — no APM, metrics, logs, or host-level observability
- - Small vendor (2–10 people) with no published SLA for the monitoring service itself
- - Per-site cost is above bare uptime checkers; 200 sites costs €399/month
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