--- title: Checkly Alternative description: WatchFor compared with Checkly: when a Playwright-first, code-defined monitoring workflow is the right answer, and when it is more than you need. canonical: https://watchfor.io/checkly-alternative --- [← All comparisons](/comparisons) # The Checkly alternative for monitoring you do not want to write in code Checkly built the best version of a specific idea: your checks are Playwright scripts, they live in your repository, they run in CI, and a deploy can be gated on them. If you want a browser to click through a real checkout before you ship, they are the right tool and this page will not talk you out of it. The trade is that everything becomes code and runs are billed per execution, which is a lot of machinery for knowing whether DNS resolves. ## Where Checkly is better than us - Playwright browser checks that drive a real browser through a real flow. - Monitoring defined as code, versioned in your repository and run in CI. - Deploy gating — a failing check can stop a release. Feature WatchFor Checkly Free plan 15 monitors, 8 check types, commercial use allowed 10 uptime monitors, plus limited check runs Free plan check interval 3 minutes 2 minutes Entry paid plan €7/mo — 50 monitors, 1-minute checks $24/mo (Starter) — 50 uptime monitors Fastest check interval 30 seconds 30 seconds (Team), 1 second on Enterprise Status pages 3 on Free, 25 from €7/mo Included; custom domain on Team and above Team seats Included on every plan, no per-seat fee Included Monitor types 25 incl. CDN, MCP, MTR, NTP, blacklist, email policy; 8 on the free plan Uptime, API checks, Playwright browser checks, heartbeats Probe locations 20 locations across 7 regions; 1 region per monitor on Free, 2 from €7/mo, 7 on Business 6 on Free and Starter, 22 on Team Playwright browser checks The core of the product Monitoring as code, run in CI REST API, SDKs and MCP, but not a CI-run repo Yes, first class Billing model Flat plan by monitor count Per check run Probe locations on the entry paid plan 2 regions on Starter (€7), all 7 on Business 6 Free diagnostic tools [60 tools, no signup](/free-tools) None found Agent-readiness score (ora.ai) [100/100 · A+](https://ora.ai/score/watchfor.io) watchfor.io · 21 Sept 2026 [76/100 · B](https://ora.ai/score/checklyhq.com) checklyhq.com · 25 Aug 2026 Agent-readiness score (is-agentic.com) [100/100](https://is-agentic.com/scan/watchfor.io) watchfor.io · 21 Sept 2026 [94/100](https://is-agentic.com/scan/checklyhq.com) checklyhq.com · 24 Aug 2026 Checkly details checked on 11 September 2026 against [their published pricing](https://www.checklyhq.com/pricing/). Plans change — see the note at the end of this page. ## Choose Checkly if - Your critical path is a multi-step user journey that only a browser can verify. - You want checks reviewed in pull requests like the rest of your code. - You want a failing synthetic to block a deploy. ## Choose WatchFor if - You want monitoring configured in a UI, an API or a chat message rather than in a repository. - You want a flat plan instead of per-run billing. - Your risk is in the infrastructure layer — DNS, TLS, CDN, mail, network path — not in page rendering. - You want probes in two regions on the €7 entry plan rather than on the third tier. ## Moving over Monitors → Import brings your Checkly API checks over directly (beta), mapped onto our API monitor type with assertions on JSON fields, headers and status, previewed before creation. Playwright checks have no equivalent and should stay with Checkly. ## Questions people ask Can WatchFor run browser tests? No. We run Lighthouse-based Core Web Vitals audits, which measure how a page loads, but nothing that clicks through a flow. For scripted journeys Checkly is the better tool and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Why would I not want monitoring as code? It is a genuine strength when a team owns the repository and reviews changes. It is friction when the person who needs a monitor added is in support, or when you want to add a check from your phone at two in the morning. What does per-run billing mean in practice? Cost scales with frequency. Checking every 30 seconds costs twice what checking every minute costs. Our plans are priced by monitor count, so interval changes do not move the bill. ## Try it on the thing you are actually worried about 15 monitors free, commercial use allowed, no card. If it does not beat what you have, keep what you have. [Start free](/auth/signup)[See pricing](/pricing) ## About these figures Everything stated here about Checkly was read from [their published pricing](https://www.checklyhq.com/pricing/) on 11 September 2026 . Pricing, limits and features in this market change often and without notice, so treat this as a starting point and confirm the current terms with both vendors before you buy. We are not affiliated with Checkly , and product names belong to their owners. Agent-readiness scores are published by [ora.ai](https://ora.ai) and [is-agentic.com](https://is-agentic.com) for the domain named under each score, as of the date shown. They grade a domain, not a product: a vendor whose developer surface lives on a subdomain can score lower than its product deserves. We show each service's own cached result and never request a scan of another company's site, so a domain neither service has scanned reads as not scanned. Scoring rules change over time; compare the dates as well as the numbers. If something here is wrong or out of date — including if you work at Checkly — email [hello@watchfor.io](mailto:hello@watchfor.io) and we will correct the page and update the date on it. This page is provided for information only and is not advice. See our [Terms of Service](/legal/terms) for the full position on published information. --- Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/checkly-alternative · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt