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Upstat vs Prometheus

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Executive Snapshot

Prometheus is open-source observability. Upstat is complete incident operations.

Prometheus provides open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit with time-series database focused on metrics collection via PromQL—requiring Kubernetes/container infrastructure, persistent storage, and Alertmanager configuration. Teams typically incur infrastructure costs ($200-1000/month) plus separate subscriptions for on-call management (PagerDuty, OpsGenie) and status pages. Upstat consolidates cloud-hosted monitoring, incident operations, and status communication into one platform at $29–$49 per user.

Observability stack versus incident operations

Prometheus excels at Kubernetes metrics and time-series data but requires YAML configuration, PromQL expertise, and Alertmanager routing to external incident tools. Upstat provides cloud-hosted SaaS with external monitoring, native incident workspace, built-in on-call management, and status pages—no infrastructure or YAML configuration required.

Capability comparison

Platform Focus

Upstat

Complete incident operations platform with native monitoring, incident workflows, on-call management, and status communication.

Prometheus

Open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit with time-series database; focused on metrics collection and alert generation via Alertmanager.

Incident Coordination

Upstat

Native incident workspace with Kanban views, embedded runbooks, role assignments, and collaborative timelines.

Prometheus

Alertmanager routes alerts to external incident management platforms (PagerDuty, OpsGenie, incident.io); no native incident coordination.

On-Call Management

Upstat

Built-in on-call scheduling, escalation policies, rotation management, and shift swaps.

Prometheus

Alertmanager routes notifications but provides no on-call scheduling—teams integrate with PagerDuty, OpsGenie, or other on-call platforms.

Status Communication

Upstat

Customer-facing status pages automatically updated from monitoring health and incidents.

Prometheus

No native status pages—teams build custom Grafana dashboards or use separate status page tools.

Deployment Model

Upstat

Cloud-hosted SaaS platform with quick setup; no infrastructure maintenance required.

Prometheus

Self-hosted open-source software requiring Kubernetes/container orchestration, persistent storage, and ongoing maintenance.

Target Audience

Upstat

DevOps and SRE teams needing unified monitoring, incident operations, and status communication without infrastructure overhead.

Prometheus

Platform engineering teams with Kubernetes expertise; organizations prioritizing open-source observability stacks and PromQL query language.

Configuration Approach

Upstat

Web-based configuration interface with intuitive setup for monitors, on-call, and incident workflows.

Prometheus

YAML-based configuration requiring PromQL query expertise; Alertmanager config files for routing rules and inhibition.

Pricing

Upstat

$29 / $49 per user with monitoring, incidents, on-call, runbooks, and status pages included.

Prometheus

Free open-source (self-hosted); costs include Kubernetes infrastructure, persistent storage, and optional managed Prometheus services.

Why teams evaluate Prometheus alternatives

Kubernetes infrastructure complexity

Prometheus requires Kubernetes/container orchestration, persistent storage configuration, and ongoing infrastructure maintenance. Teams spend significant time managing Prometheus deployments, storage retention, and Alertmanager routing rules via YAML. Upstat provides cloud-hosted SaaS platform with quick setup—configure monitors and start receiving alerts without Kubernetes infrastructure.

Alertmanager routing to external tools

Alertmanager routes alerts to external incident management platforms (PagerDuty, OpsGenie, incident.io) but provides no native incident workspace or team collaboration. Teams coordinate incident response across multiple tools. Upstat provides native monitoring integrated directly with incident workflows, embedded runbooks, and collaborative timelines.

PromQL query expertise required

Prometheus requires PromQL query language expertise for alert rules and metric aggregation. Alertmanager uses YAML-based configuration for routing, inhibition, and grouping logic. Upstat provides web-based configuration interface with intuitive setup—no query language or YAML configuration expertise required.

Learn more about Why teams evaluate Prometheus alternatives

How teams migrate from Prometheus to Upstat

Most teams migrate monitoring in 2-3 weeks by replacing Prometheus/Alertmanager with Upstat's cloud-hosted SaaS platform and unified incident operations.

  • 1
    Assess whether your team needs Kubernetes observability (Prometheus) or external service monitoring with incident operations (Upstat).
  • 2
    Configure Upstat native monitoring to replace or complement Prometheus/Alertmanager for production service availability.
  • 3
    Migrate on-call schedules from PagerDuty/OpsGenie to Upstat unified on-call management.
  • 4
    Set up Upstat incident workflows, runbooks, and status pages for operations coordination.
  • 5
    Evaluate whether to retain Prometheus for Kubernetes metrics or consolidate with Upstat for service availability monitoring.

Migration checklist

Teams needing Kubernetes observability and time-series metrics should keep Prometheus. Teams prioritizing external service monitoring and incident coordination can consolidate with Upstat.

Learn more about How teams migrate from Prometheus to Upstat

Business Case

Stack consolidation scenario

A 18-engineer platform team manages production services using:

  • Prometheus infrastructure: $9,600/year (Kubernetes, storage)
  • Engineer time: $30,000/year (1 FTE at 38% capacity)
  • PagerDuty for on-call: $5,400/year
  • Total costs: $45,000/year

With Upstat Teams ($29/user), total cost: $6,264/year—including cloud-hosted monitoring, on-call management, incident workflows, runbooks, and status pages. Annual savings: $38,736 plus eliminated Kubernetes infrastructure overhead.

ROI Summary

Current stack (Prometheus + on-call + time) $45,000/year
Upstat Teams (18 users) $6,264/year
Annual savings $38,736

Additional benefits: No YAML configuration, no Kubernetes infrastructure, no PromQL expertise required, unified incident operations.

When Prometheus makes sense

Platform engineering teams with Kubernetes expertise requiring time-series metrics, PromQL query capabilities, and deep observability across containerized workloads benefit from Prometheus's open-source observability stack. Organizations prioritizing Kubernetes-native monitoring accept infrastructure maintenance overhead.

DevOps and SRE teams focused on production service uptime typically find Upstat's cloud-hosted external monitoring (uptime, API, heartbeat) sufficient while gaining complete incident operations (on-call, runbooks, incident workspace, status pages) without Kubernetes infrastructure or PromQL expertise—all at predictable per-user pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Platform engineering teams using Prometheus for Kubernetes monitoring evaluate whether Upstat provides sufficient capabilities without self-hosted observability stack overhead.

Does Upstat replace Prometheus for Kubernetes monitoring?

Not for deep observability. Prometheus excels at metrics collection, time-series database, and PromQL query language requiring Kubernetes/container orchestration. Upstat provides external uptime and API monitoring without Kubernetes infrastructure—focused on service availability rather than time-series metrics. Teams needing Kubernetes observability should keep Prometheus; teams prioritizing service availability monitoring and incident operations can consolidate with Upstat.

How does Upstat pricing compare to Prometheus?

Prometheus is free open-source software but requires Kubernetes infrastructure, persistent storage, Alertmanager configuration, and ongoing maintenance. Teams typically incur infrastructure costs ($200-1000/month), DevOps time (1-2 engineers), and optional managed Prometheus services. Upstat offers $29 (Teams) or $49 (Business) per user with cloud-hosted SaaS—no infrastructure costs, YAML configuration, or maintenance overhead.

Can we use Prometheus with Upstat?

Yes. Some teams use Prometheus for Kubernetes metrics and observability, then route critical alerts to Upstat for incident coordination, on-call management, and status communication. Alertmanager v0.29.0 (November 2025) added incident.io notifier, enabling similar integrations with Upstat. Most DevOps teams find Upstat's external monitoring sufficient for production services—eliminating Prometheus infrastructure while gaining unified incident operations.

Does Upstat include on-call management like Prometheus?

Alertmanager routes notifications to external on-call platforms (PagerDuty, OpsGenie) but provides no native on-call scheduling—teams maintain separate subscriptions. Upstat includes built-in on-call scheduling, escalation policies, rotation management, and multi-channel alerting integrated directly with monitoring—eliminating the need for external on-call platforms that Prometheus requires.

Eliminate Kubernetes complexity

Cloud-hosted monitoring with web-based configuration and complete incident operations

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