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Upstat vs incident.io

Go beyond catalog fields—unify monitoring, response, on-call, and status pages in one platform.

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Executive Snapshot

Replace catalogs and add-ons with one operational platform.

incident.io delivers a flexible incident catalog and basic status pages—but teams still need separate monitoring, advanced automation, and runbooks to manage live operations. Plus, status pages require manual service definitions separate from the catalog. Upstat ships everything together with catalog-driven automation, so detection, coordination, and communication stay in sync.

The result: fewer systems to maintain, faster context for responders, and pricing that stays predictable as incident volume grows.

You're getting more than a replacement

Upstat replaces incident.io and the orbiting toolchain—monitoring, on-call schedules, runbooks, automations, status pages, and entity dashboards come standard at $29–$49/user. That means richer context and faster response even when subscription prices are close.

Capability comparison

Monitoring

Upstat

Native uptime and API checks with alerting built in.

incident.io

Depends on external monitoring providers; alerts arrive via integrations.

Incident Response

Upstat

Kanban and list views, Markdown timelines, assignments, and automations.

incident.io

Catalog-first UI with forms and lists; coordination relies on manual updates.

Automations

Upstat

If/then workflows and runbooks included—no extra services required.

incident.io

Automation rules limited; deeper workflows require third-party tooling.

Entity Intelligence

Upstat

Operational dashboards, dependency graphs, and ownership context for every service.

incident.io

Custom fields capture metadata but lack live operational dashboards.

Status Communication

Upstat

Catalog-driven status pages automatically populate from entities and sync with incidents.

incident.io

Basic status pages require manual service definitions separate from catalog.

Pricing Transparency

Upstat

$29 Teams / $49 Business per user with every module included.

incident.io

Pricing based on per-responder quotes and optional add-ons for advanced workflows.

AI Readiness

Upstat

Structured JSON-LD data across monitors, incidents, and entities to fuel AI workflows.

incident.io

Catalog forms capture data but lack the unified model needed for intelligent automation.

Go from alert to action without switching tools

Built-in detection

Upstat monitors APIs, web apps, and background jobs out of the box. incident.io customers rely on third-party monitors, adding hand-offs and lag to every incident.

Entity dashboards

Live operational dashboards show health, owners, dependencies, and recent incidents. Catalog fields alone cannot deliver the same situational awareness.

Automation that actually runs

Trigger runbooks, assign roles, update status pages, and notify teams in one workflow. No external runners or custom scripts needed.

Learn more about Go from alert to action without switching tools

Switch without resetting your process

You already have responders, services, and escalation habits. Upstat keeps what works and replaces the gaps—monitoring, automations, status updates, and ownership context come along for the ride.

  • 1
    Audit current incident.io services, responders, and integrations.
  • 2
    Model critical services inside Upstat and connect built-in monitors for core endpoints.
  • 3
    Map escalation policies and automations using Upstat workflows and runbooks.
  • 4
    Dry-run incidents to validate assignments, notifications, and stakeholder updates.
  • 5
    Cut over responders, sunset redundant integrations, and brief teams on the new flow.

Migration checklist

Capture current services, align monitors, rehearse automations, and brief stakeholders so the move is calm—not chaotic.

Learn more about Switch without resetting your process

Build the executive business case

Teams adopting incident.io often combine it with Datadog or Pingdom for monitoring, Zapier or custom scripts for advanced automations, and manual processes to keep status pages in sync with the catalog. Upstat replaces that fragmented ecosystem with catalog-driven automation.

Use the scenario below when presenting to finance: it shows how faster detection and consolidated tooling beat catalog-only approaches even when per-user pricing is comparable.

Operational efficiency scenario

Tool switching delays detection—and costs real money.

Without native monitoring and automations, responders spend precious minutes bridging alerts from third-party tools into incident.io. The scenario below models a mid-market SaaS team experiencing twelve significant incidents per year.

Baseline: 12 major incidents annually. Manual hand-offs between monitoring and incident.io add roughly 15 minutes to detection and triage for each event. Revenue at risk: $8,000 per hour.

incident.io stack: Detection via external monitors, scripts for automations, and manual customer updates. Annual cost: ~$34k in tools plus ~$72k in lost revenue from slower incident response.

Upstat outcome: Integrated monitoring and workflows remove the swivel-chair delay. MTTR improves by 40%, protecting ~$29k in revenue while eliminating ~$20k in bolt-on services.

Tool costs

$34,000 → $14,000

incident.io subscription + add-on tools vs. Upstat all-in-one platform.

Tool savings: $20,000/year

Downtime impact

$72,000 → $43,000

40% faster MTTR from unified monitoring and incident workflows.

Revenue protected: $29,000/year

Total annual savings

$49,000

Tool consolidation ($20,000) + faster incident resolution ($29,000).

* Estimates based on a 25-responder rotation, $8k/hour revenue at risk, and a 40% reduction in manual triage time once monitoring and workflows live in the same product. Update the inputs to reflect your business before sharing with finance.

Frequently asked questions

Teams comparing Upstat and incident.io usually want clarity on monitoring, automations, and pricing predictability. Here are the quick answers.

What monitoring capabilities does Upstat provide that incident.io doesn't?

Upstat includes native uptime, API, and heartbeat monitoring with integrated alerting. incident.io requires external providers for detection, which means additional subscriptions and integration complexity.

How should we budget for an incident.io migration?

Capture your current responder count, external monitoring spend, and the time lost coordinating across systems. Upstat pricing is transparent, and the downtime scenario above shows how even modest workflow improvements can outweigh subscription differences.

Does incident.io support workflow automations like Upstat does?

incident.io has basic status pages but requires manual service definitions separate from the catalog, and teams need external tools for advanced automated workflows. Upstat includes incident automations, catalog-driven status pages, and runbooks natively.

How does Upstat pricing compare to incident.io?

Upstat's $29 or $49 per-user plans include monitoring, incident coordination, automations, status pages, and runbooks. incident.io pricing is quoted per responder and may require additional spend on monitoring, automations, or communications.

Ready to move beyond catalog-only incident tools?

Launch Upstat, rebuild critical services, and ship your first end-to-end incident workflow in the same afternoon.

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