UpDog vs Pingdom
Pingdom pioneered uptime monitoring. UpDog takes what works and adds what teams actually need—without the enterprise pricing and complexity.
Quick comparison
| Feature | UpDog | Pingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $7/month | $15/month |
| Free tier | 5 monitors | 14-day trial only |
| Team collaboration | Built-in | Enterprise add-on |
| Status pages | Included | Basic |
| Custom status domains | Included | Yes |
| Heartbeat monitoring | Yes | Limited |
| SSL monitoring | Included | Included |
| RUM (Real User Monitoring) | No | Yes |
| Transaction monitoring | No | Yes |
| Interface complexity | Simple | Enterprise-focused |
Where UpDog wins
Pricing
UpDog starts at $7/month with a real free tier. Pingdom starts at $15/month with only a 14-day trial. For small to mid-size teams, UpDog offers better value without sacrificing the features that matter.
Simplicity
Pingdom has grown complex as it added enterprise features. The interface is cluttered with options most teams don't need. UpDog stays focused: monitoring, alerts, status pages. No fluff.
Team features at every tier
UpDog includes team collaboration (organizations, invites, roles) on all plans. Pingdom's team features are gated behind higher tiers or enterprise plans.
Heartbeat monitoring
UpDog has full heartbeat/cron monitoring built in. Monitor Kubernetes CronJobs, Celery Beat, Laravel schedulers, and any background job. Pingdom's heartbeat support is more limited.
Where Pingdom wins
Real User Monitoring (RUM)
Pingdom offers Real User Monitoring to track actual user experience and page load times from real browsers. UpDog focuses on synthetic monitoring—checking your endpoints, not measuring real user sessions.
Transaction monitoring
Pingdom can simulate multi-step user flows (login, checkout, etc.) with transaction monitoring. UpDog checks endpoints but doesn't script browser interactions.
Enterprise features
For large enterprises needing advanced compliance, SLAs, and dedicated support, Pingdom (backed by SolarWinds) offers enterprise-grade options. UpDog is built for small to mid-size teams.
The bottom line
Choose UpDog if:
- You want simpler pricing
- Team features matter
- You need heartbeat monitoring
- You value a clean interface
- You're a small to mid-size team
Choose Pingdom if:
- You need Real User Monitoring
- You need transaction scripting
- You're an enterprise
- You need vendor compliance docs
- Budget isn't a concern