Is Bugsnag or Checkmk better?

Neither clearly leads. Bugsnag starts at Free and Checkmk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Bugsnag or Checkmk?

Bugsnag starts at Free and Checkmk at Free.

Does Bugsnag or Checkmk run on more platforms?

Bugsnag runs on Web, API. Checkmk runs on Web.

Can I use Bugsnag for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Bugsnag best used for?

Bugsnag is most often used for crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications, stability scores per release, grouping errors by root cause across deploys, alerting when a release regresses. Of those, crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications and stability scores per release are not what Checkmk is typically brought in for.

What can Bugsnag do that Checkmk cannot?

Bugsnag covers Error tracking, Crash reporting, Release tracking, Trend analysis.

Logging · head to head

Bugsnag vs Checkmk

Bugsnag

Logging

Application Stability Monitoring

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Visit Bugsnag Full review

Checkmk

Logging

Comprehensive IT monitoring, open and flexible

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Visit Checkmk Full review

The short version

Bugsnag is free; Checkmk starts at €190/mo.
Where Bugsnag falls short: owned by SmartBear rather than being independent.
Where Checkmk falls short: pricing calculated by service count, not hosts (approximately 30 services per host on average).
Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bugsnag and Checkmk actually diverge.

Attributes where Bugsnag and Checkmk differ
Attribute	Bugsnag	Checkmk
Pricing model	Freemium	Subscription
Platforms	Web, API	Web

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), category (Logging).

Not yet recorded: founded for Checkmk.

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bugsnag

Error tracking
Crash reporting
Release tracking
Trend analysis
API
Webhooks
REST
Web support

Only in Checkmk

Nothing recorded that Bugsnag does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bugsnag

Crash and error reporting for mobile and web applicationsnot Checkmk
Stability scores per releasenot Checkmk
Grouping errors by root cause across deploysnot Checkmk
Alerting when a release regressesnot Checkmk

Checkmk

Infrastructure monitoringnot Bugsnag
System observabilitynot Bugsnag
Enterprise compliance monitoringnot Bugsnag

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bugsnag

Owned by SmartBear rather than being independent
The free tier covers 7,500 events a month
Paid tiers are usage-priced by event volume rather than by seat, so a noisy release raises the bill
Enterprise pricing is quote-only

Checkmk

Pricing calculated by service count, not hosts (approximately 30 services per host on average)
Professional support limited to 8-10 hours per week on base plans
Synthetic monitoring is separate add-on with per-test pricing

Pricing, plan by plan

Bugsnag

Free

FreeFree
- 1 user
- Error and performance monitoring
- 7500 events monthly
SelectFree
- 50000-3 million error monitoring events monthly tiered
- 1-150 million performance monitoring spans
- Unlimited users
PreferredFree
- 100000-3 million error monitoring events tiered
- 1-300 million performance monitoring spans
- Automatic error prioritization
EnterpriseOn request
- Custom pricing
- All Preferred features plus
- Automatic error assignment

Checkmk

Free

Community (Self-Hosted)Free
- No cost, forever
- Up to ~100 hosts
- Basic infrastructure monitoring
Pro (Self-Hosted)€190/mo
- Advanced analytics
- Reporting
- Distributed monitoring
Ultimate (Self-Hosted)€275/mo
- Full-stack observability
- Advanced security compliance
- 10 hours x 5 days professional support (upgradable to 24/7)
CloudAI (SaaS)€240/mo
- Fully managed cloud hosting
- 99.5% uptime SLA
- Supports up to 50000 services

Which should you pick?

Choose Bugsnag if

You need error tracking.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, API.
You also want crash reporting.

Bugsnag review

Choose Checkmk if

You want to start without paying.

Checkmk review

Questions people ask

Is Bugsnag or Checkmk better?: Neither clearly leads. Bugsnag starts at Free and Checkmk at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bugsnag or Checkmk?: Bugsnag starts at Free and Checkmk at Free.
Does Bugsnag or Checkmk run on more platforms?: Bugsnag runs on Web, API. Checkmk runs on Web.
Can I use Bugsnag for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bugsnag best used for?: Bugsnag is most often used for crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications, stability scores per release, grouping errors by root cause across deploys, alerting when a release regresses. Of those, crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications and stability scores per release are not what Checkmk is typically brought in for.
What can Bugsnag do that Checkmk cannot?: Bugsnag covers Error tracking, Crash reporting, Release tracking, Trend analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bugsnag: Is BugSnag free?

BugSnag Free plan is free and includes 1 user, error and performance monitoring with 7500 events and 1 million spans monthly, 50+ platforms, 30+ integrations, and 7-day data retention for solo developers and passion projects.

Source

Checkmk: Is there a free version of Checkmk?

Yes, Checkmk Community edition is free forever and supports up to approximately 100 hosts for basic infrastructure monitoring with no cost.

Source

Bugsnag: What are the event and span limits by BugSnag plan?

Free plan: 7500 error events and 1 million spans monthly. Select plan: 50000-3 million error events and 1-150 million spans tiered. Preferred plan: 100000-3 million error events and 1-300 million spans tiered. Enterprise plan: custom limits with pricing on request.

Source

Checkmk: How does Checkmk calculate pricing by host count?

Checkmk uses service-based pricing where each monitored aspect (file system, hardware sensor, switch port, metric) counts as one service. On average, there are approximately 30 services per host.

Source

Bugsnag: How long does BugSnag retain error data?

BugSnag Free plan retains data for 7 days. Select and Preferred paid plans retain error data for 60 days. Enterprise plans offer custom data retention periods negotiated with sales.

Source

Checkmk: What is the difference between Checkmk Pro and Ultimate tiers?

Pro tier at 190 EUR/month includes advanced analytics and 8x5 support, while Ultimate at 275 EUR/month adds full-stack observability, advanced compliance features, and upgradable 24/7 support.

Source

Bugsnag: What features does BugSnag Preferred plan add?

BugSnag Preferred plan (pricing tiered by volume, not published) adds automatic error prioritization, stability benchmarks, advanced segmentation, custom notifications, SAML SSO, and system metrics monitoring compared to Select plan.

Source

Checkmk: Does Checkmk offer a managed SaaS option?

Yes, Checkmk CloudAI is a fully managed SaaS tier at 240 EUR/month with 99.5% uptime SLA and support for up to 50000 services.

Source

Bugsnag vs Checkmk

Bugsnag

Checkmk

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Bugsnag

Only in Checkmk

What people use each for

Bugsnag

Checkmk

Where each one falls short

Bugsnag

Checkmk

Pricing, plan by plan

Bugsnag

Checkmk

Which should you pick?

Choose Bugsnag if

Choose Checkmk if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Bugsnag

More on Checkmk

Keep looking

Other head to heads