Is Checkmk or Raygun better?

Neither clearly leads. Checkmk starts at Free and Raygun at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Checkmk or Raygun?

Checkmk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Checkmk and $40/month for Raygun.

Does Checkmk or Raygun run on more platforms?

Checkmk runs on Web. Raygun runs on Web, API.

Can I use Checkmk for free?

Yes. Checkmk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Raygun starts at $40/month.

What is Checkmk best used for?

Checkmk is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, system observability, enterprise compliance monitoring. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and system observability are not what Raygun is typically brought in for.

What can Checkmk do that Raygun cannot?

Raygun covers Crash reporting, Real user monitoring, Performance tracking, Source maps.

Logging · head to head

Checkmk vs Raygun

Checkmk

Logging

Comprehensive IT monitoring, open and flexible

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Visit Checkmk Full review

Raygun

Logging

Real User Monitoring and Crash Reporting

From: $40/month
Free plan: No

Visit Raygun Full review

The short version

Checkmk has a free plan, then €190/mo; Raygun starts at $40/mo.
Where Checkmk falls short: pricing calculated by service count, not hosts (approximately 30 services per host on average).
Where Raygun falls short: crash Reporting error data is retained for 180 days and Real User Monitoring sessions for only 60 days; longer retention is Enterprise only.
Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Checkmk and Raygun actually diverge.

Attributes where Checkmk and Raygun differ
Attribute	Checkmk	Raygun
Starting price	Free	$40/month
Pricing model	Subscription	Usage-based
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	Web, API

Identical on both: 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 Checkmk

Nothing recorded that Raygun does not also cover.

Only in Raygun

Crash reporting
Real user monitoring
Performance tracking
Source maps
API
Webhooks
REST
Web support

What people use each for

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

Checkmk

Infrastructure monitoringnot Raygun
System observabilitynot Raygun
Enterprise compliance monitoringnot Raygun

Raygun

Crash and error reporting for web, mobile and backend applicationsnot Checkmk
Real user monitoring of front end page load and session performancenot Checkmk
Application performance monitoring with request level tracesnot Checkmk

Where each one falls short

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

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

Raygun

Crash Reporting error data is retained for 180 days and Real User Monitoring sessions for only 60 days; longer retention is Enterprise only
Crash Reporting, Real User Monitoring and APM are billed as three separate products, each metered on its own unit of errors, sessions or traces
A Real User Monitoring session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity, so a single visit spanning breaks is billed as several sessions
Usage beyond the plan allowance is billed on demand at $0.001 per error and $0.002 per session or trace
Enterprise plan pricing is custom with no published rate

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Raygun

$40/month

Basic$40/mo
- Core monitoring, unlimited apps and members
- Basic alerts, deployment tracking
- Annual billing saves 33%
Team$80/mo
- Inbound filters and third-party integrations
- Unlimited dashboards and user roles
- Marked as MOST POPULAR plan
Business$400/mo
- SAML SSO and dedicated account manager
- Priority support and quarterly reviews
- Annual billing saves 33%
EnterpriseOn request
- Custom pricing and compliance requirements
- Unlimited reports and SLA agreements
- Private Slack support

Which should you pick?

Choose Checkmk if

You want to start without paying.

Checkmk review

Choose Raygun if

You need crash reporting.
You work on Web, API.
You also want real user monitoring.

Raygun review

Questions people ask

Is Checkmk or Raygun better?: Neither clearly leads. Checkmk starts at Free and Raygun at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Checkmk or Raygun?: Checkmk has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Checkmk and $40/month for Raygun.
Does Checkmk or Raygun run on more platforms?: Checkmk runs on Web. Raygun runs on Web, API.
Can I use Checkmk for free?: Yes. Checkmk has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Raygun starts at $40/month.
What is Checkmk best used for?: Checkmk is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, system observability, enterprise compliance monitoring. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and system observability are not what Raygun is typically brought in for.
What can Checkmk do that Raygun cannot?: Raygun covers Crash reporting, Real user monitoring, Performance tracking, Source maps.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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

Raygun: Does Raygun offer a free trial?

Yes. Raygun offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card required. The trial includes feature access across all products.

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

Raygun: What is Raygun's pricing model?

Raygun uses a usage-based pricing model with tiered plans starting at $40/month for Basic tier, plus per-event charges ($0.001 to $0.002 per event). Annual billing saves 33% compared to monthly rates.

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

Raygun: What features are included in the Team plan?

Team plan at $80/month includes inbound filters, third-party integrations, unlimited dashboards, user roles, and is marked as the most popular option. It's positioned between Basic and Business tiers.

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

Checkmk vs Raygun

Checkmk

Raygun

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Checkmk

Only in Raygun

What people use each for

Checkmk

Raygun

Where each one falls short

Checkmk

Raygun

Pricing, plan by plan

Checkmk

Raygun

Which should you pick?

Choose Checkmk if

Choose Raygun if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Checkmk

More on Raygun

Keep looking

Other head to heads