Better Stack vs StatusApp: Which Monitoring Platform Is Right for You?
A detailed comparison of Better Stack and StatusApp covering features, pricing, and use cases. Find out which monitoring platform fits your team.
Better Stack (formerly Better Uptime) has positioned itself as the affordable alternative to Datadog, offering uptime monitoring alongside logs, metrics, and incident management. StatusApp focuses specifically on monitoring done exceptionally well. Which approach is right for your team?
Philosophy: Platform vs. Focused Tool
The core difference between Better Stack and StatusApp is scope.
Better Stack is an observability platform. It bundles uptime monitoring, log management, incident management, on-call scheduling, and status pages into a single product. Their pitch: replace your entire monitoring stack with one tool.
StatusApp is a focused monitoring platform. It does monitoring, alerting, and status pages, and it does them with depth and polish. The pitch: do one thing exceptionally well.
Neither approach is inherently better. The right choice depends on what you need.
Feature Comparison
Uptime Monitoring
Both platforms offer solid uptime monitoring. The differences are in the details:
| Feature | Better Stack | StatusApp |
|---|---|---|
| Min check interval | 30 sec | 30 sec |
| Monitor types | HTTP, Ping, Keywords | 10 types (HTTP, API, GraphQL, SSL, TCP/UDP, Ping, DNS, Domain, Heartbeat, Server) |
| Global locations | 15+ | 35+ |
| Multi-step checks | No | API validation (headers, body, status) |
| GraphQL support | No | Yes |
| Server monitoring | No (use metrics product) | Yes (built-in agent) |
StatusApp offers broader monitoring coverage in a single product. Better Stack covers HTTP and ping but relies on its separate metrics product for server monitoring and does not offer GraphQL, DNS, or domain monitoring.
Alerting and Incident Management
This is where Better Stack has an advantage. It includes full incident management with:
- On-call scheduling and rotations
- Escalation policies
- Incident timelines
- Post-mortem templates
StatusApp focuses on alerting (email, SMS, Slack, Discord, Telegram, PagerDuty, webhooks) but does not include on-call scheduling or post-mortem tools. If you need those, you would pair StatusApp with a dedicated incident management tool like PagerDuty or Incident.io.
Analytics
StatusApp includes advanced analytics on paid plans:
- Regional performance breakdowns
- Response time percentiles (p50, p95, p99)
- Historical trends
- Performance reports
Better Stack provides basic uptime and response time data in its monitoring product. More detailed analytics are available through its metrics and logging products.
Log Management
Better Stack includes a log management product that can ingest and analyze logs. StatusApp does not offer log management — it is not in scope. If you need logs, Better Stack or a dedicated tool like Datadog, Loki, or Papertrail is needed.
Status Pages
Both platforms include status pages. Both support custom domains, subscriber notifications, and component grouping. StatusApp’s status pages are included on all plans; Better Stack includes them in paid plans.
Pricing
This is where things get interesting.
Better Stack Pricing
Better Stack offers multiple products (Uptime, Logs, etc.) with separate pricing tiers. Their uptime monitoring includes:
- Free: Limited monitors with 3-minute intervals
- Paid tiers: Pricing varies by product and team size
For teams using multiple Better Stack products, costs can add up. Check betterstack.com/pricing for current rates.
StatusApp Pricing
StatusApp uses flat-rate pricing:
- Starter (Free): 5 monitors
- Pro ($15/month): 50 monitors, 30-sec checks, all integrations
- Business ($49/month): 500 monitors, advanced analytics, priority support
- Custom: From $25/month for tailored plans
For that same team of 5, StatusApp Business costs $49/month total, not per seat.
Cost Comparison
Direct cost comparisons are difficult because Better Stack bundles multiple products (uptime, logs, incident management) with different pricing models. StatusApp’s flat-rate pricing ($15/mo for Pro, $49/mo for Business) is straightforward regardless of team size.
If you primarily need monitoring without logs or incident management, StatusApp is likely more cost-effective. If you want a bundled observability platform, Better Stack’s pricing may make sense for your use case.
Who Should Choose Better Stack?
Better Stack is the right choice if:
- You want monitoring, logging, and incident management in one platform
- You need on-call scheduling and escalation policies
- You want to replace Datadog at a lower price point
- Per-seat pricing works for your team size
- You are comfortable with basic monitor types (HTTP, ping)
Who Should Choose StatusApp?
StatusApp is the right choice if:
- You want comprehensive monitoring (10 types) without the platform bloat
- You need GraphQL, DNS, domain, or server monitoring
- You prefer flat-rate pricing over per-seat billing
- You want 35+ monitoring locations for global coverage
- You value advanced analytics with regional performance data
- You already use PagerDuty or another incident management tool
- You are an agency managing many monitors across clients
Using Both Together
Some teams use both: Better Stack for logging and incident management, StatusApp for monitoring. This gives you the best monitoring coverage (StatusApp’s 10 types and 35+ locations) with the best incident response workflow (Better Stack’s on-call and escalation).
The cost of StatusApp Pro ($15/month) plus Better Stack’s free monitoring tier (for incident features) can be less than Better Stack’s paid tier alone while giving you superior monitoring coverage.
The Verdict
There is no universally “better” choice. If you need a full observability platform and are willing to pay per seat, Better Stack is a strong option. If you want the best monitoring experience at a fair flat-rate price, StatusApp delivers more monitoring depth for less money.
The key question: Do you need monitoring, or do you need an observability platform? Answer that, and the choice becomes clear.
Competitor pricing and features were accurate at the time of writing (February 2026). We recommend checking their websites for the latest information.
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