HowlOps vs PagerDuty
PagerDuty is powerful, but expensive and limited to alerting. HowlOps adds built-in monitoring and status pages for teams that want everything in one affordable platform.
Feature | HowlOps | PagerDuty |
|---|---|---|
| On-Call Schedules | Paid | |
| Escalation Policies | Paid | |
| Alert Routing Rules | Paid | |
| Built-in HTTP/HTTPS Monitoring | ||
| Built-in Heartbeat Monitoring | ||
| Status Pages | Paid | |
| White-label Status Pages | Paid | Paid |
| Multi-region Monitoring | Paid | |
| Incident Management | ||
| Slack / Teams Integration | ||
| Custom Roles & Permissions | Paid | Paid |
| SAML/SSO | Paid | Paid |
| SLO Tracking | Paid | Paid |
| EU Data Residency | EU region | |
| Free tier | ||
| Open API |
What you'd actually pay
PagerDuty · Professional
8 × $21 / user
$168 /mo
PagerDuty · Business
8 × $41 / user
$328 /mo
PagerDuty · Enterprise
Custom pricing
HowlOps
8 × $12 / active responder (metered)
$96 /mo
ANNUAL SAVING VS PAGERDUTY (PROFESSIONAL)
$864
with 8 active responders on HowlOps on-call ($12 each, metered)
PagerDuty is free for up to 5 users, with one schedule, one escalation policy, and 100 SMS a month, which works fine for a tiny team. The rows above are its paid team plans, where the cost climbs quickly. Prices are the public list rates as of July 2026, billed annually, from pagerduty.com/pricing, and the Enterprise plan is quote only. HowlOps on-call is $12 per active responder each month, metered, so you only pay for the people who actually held on-call that month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is HowlOps significantly cheaper than PagerDuty?
Yes. PagerDuty pricing starts at $21 per user each month and climbs quickly as your team grows. HowlOps on-call is $12 per active responder each month, and it is metered on who actually rotated, so you never pay for idle seats.
Does HowlOps replace PagerDuty completely?
For most teams, yes. HowlOps handles on-call schedules, escalation policies, alert routing, incident management, and adds built-in monitoring and status pages, everything you previously needed PagerDuty plus a separate monitoring tool for.
Does PagerDuty include its own monitoring?
No. PagerDuty is an alerting and on-call platform only, so you still need a separate monitoring tool like Datadog or New Relic. HowlOps includes HTTP and heartbeat monitoring out of the box.
Does HowlOps offer a free trial?
Yes. HowlOps has a free tier with no credit card required, so you can evaluate the platform with your own monitors before committing.