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Logging · head to head

Healthchecks vs Honeybadger

Healthchecks logo

Healthchecks

Logging

Simple and effective cron job monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Honeybadger logo

Honeybadger

Logging

Error and Uptime Monitoring for Developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Healthchecks free tier limited to 20 jobs, restricting scale for small teams; Honeybadger the free Developer plan is limited to one user, 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day of logging and one uptime monitor
  • They diverge on capability: Healthchecks covers Ping URL monitoring, Honeybadger covers Error tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Healthchecks and Honeybadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Healthchecks and Honeybadger differ
AttributeHealthchecksHoneybadger
Pricing modelPer-job monitoring with fixed tiersfreemium
Founded20152012

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, API), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging).

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 Healthchecks

  • Ping URL monitoring
  • Customizable schedules
  • Event logs
  • Status badges
  • Email alerts
  • SMS and phone alerts
  • Multiple integrations

Only in Honeybadger

  • Error tracking
  • Uptime monitoring
  • Status pages
  • Incident management
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Healthchecks

  • Monitoring cron jobs that run on schedulesnot Honeybadger
  • Alerting teams when background tasks failnot Honeybadger
  • Tracking Kubernetes CronJob execution healthnot Honeybadger
  • Monitoring Jenkins builds and deploymentsnot Honeybadger

Honeybadger

  • Exception and error tracking for Ruby, Elixir, PHP, Python and JavaScript applicationsnot Healthchecks
  • Uptime and cron heartbeat monitoring alongside error datanot Healthchecks
  • Publishing a public status page for a small SaaS productnot Healthchecks

Where each one falls short

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

Healthchecks

  • Free tier limited to 20 jobs, restricting scale for small teams
  • Requires explicit ping integration into each job
  • No workflow orchestration or job scheduling capabilities
  • SMS and phone credits consumed separately on paid plans
  • Limited to ping-based detection without deep job introspection

Honeybadger

  • The free Developer plan is limited to one user, 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day of logging and one uptime monitor
  • SSO, unlimited teams and priority support require the Business plan at $80 per month
  • Error data retention is 15 days on Developer, 90 days on Team and 180 days on Business
  • Log and event retention is 7 days on the free plan and up to 30 days on Team
  • Premium integrations including Jira, PagerDuty, SMS and webhooks are excluded from the free Developer plan
  • S3 archiving of Insights events is not available on the Developer plan
  • Uptime check frequency is capped at 5 minutes on Developer and 2 minutes on Team; 1 minute checks require Business

Pricing, plan by plan

Healthchecks

Free
  • HobbyistFree
    • Monitor 20 jobs
    • 100 log entries per job
    • Email alerts
  • Supporter$5/month
    • Monitor 20 jobs
    • 100 log entries per job
    • Support the service financially
  • Business$20/month
    • Monitor 100 jobs
    • 1000 log entries per job
    • 50 SMS and WhatsApp credits
  • Business Plus$80/month
    • Monitor 1000 jobs
    • 1000 log entries per job
    • 500 SMS and WhatsApp credits

Honeybadger

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • 5,000 errors per month
    • 50 MB per day logging
    • 1 monitor
  • Team$26/month
    • 50,000 errors per month
    • 100 MB per day logging
    • 5 monitors
  • Business$80/month
    • 50,000 errors per month
    • 100 MB per day logging
    • 5 monitors

Which should you pick?

Choose Healthchecks if

  • You need ping url monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want customizable schedules.
Healthchecks review

Choose Honeybadger if

  • You need error tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want uptime monitoring.
Honeybadger review

Questions people ask

Is Healthchecks or Honeybadger better?
Neither clearly leads. Healthchecks starts at Free and Honeybadger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Healthchecks or Honeybadger?
Healthchecks starts at Free and Honeybadger at Free.
Does Healthchecks or Honeybadger run on more platforms?
Healthchecks runs on Web, API. Honeybadger runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Healthchecks for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Healthchecks best used for?
Healthchecks is most often used for monitoring cron jobs that run on schedules, alerting teams when background tasks fail, tracking kubernetes cronjob execution health, monitoring jenkins builds and deployments. Of those, monitoring cron jobs that run on schedules and alerting teams when background tasks fail are not what Honeybadger is typically brought in for.
What can Healthchecks do that Honeybadger cannot?
Healthchecks covers Ping URL monitoring, Customizable schedules, Event logs, Status badges. Honeybadger covers Error tracking, Uptime monitoring, Status pages, Incident management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Healthchecks: What does the free Hobbyist plan include?

The Hobbyist plan ($0/month) includes monitoring for 20 jobs, 100 log entries per job, and email alerts with no credit card required.

Source
Honeybadger: Is Honeybadger free?

Honeybadger offers a free Developer plan permanently with 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day logging, and 1 monitor, supporting unlimited projects for a single user.

Source
Healthchecks: What is the difference between Business and Business Plus?

Business ($20/month) monitors 100 jobs with 50 SMS credits. Business Plus ($80/month) monitors 1000 jobs with 500 SMS credits and priority support.

Source
Honeybadger: How much does the Honeybadger Team plan cost annually?

The Team plan costs $26 per month billed annually at $286 per year, providing 50,000 errors per month with unlimited users and 90-day error retention.

Source
Healthchecks: Do nonprofits and open-source projects get special pricing?

Yes, open-source projects and nonprofits receive the Business plan at no cost.

Source
Honeybadger: What's the difference between Honeybadger Business and Team plans?

Both Team and Business plans include 50,000 errors per month, but Business adds 180-day error retention (vs 90-day), includes enterprise security and compliance features, and supports unlimited teams.

Source
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