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Developer Tools · head to head

Helm vs PagerDuty

H

Helm

Developer Tools

The package manager for Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
PagerDuty logo

PagerDuty

Technology

Real-time operations for real-time business

From
$21/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Helm has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Helm licensed under Apache License 2.0 per the project's GitHub repository (helm/helm LICENSE); as open source software it has no paid tier or vendor price to compare; PagerDuty aIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Helm and PagerDuty actually diverge.

Attributes where Helm and PagerDuty differ
AttributeHelmPagerDuty
Starting priceFree$21/month
Pricing modelopen-sourceUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Helm

Nothing recorded that PagerDuty does not also cover.

Only in PagerDuty

  • Incident response
  • On-call management
  • Alert grouping
  • Escalation policies
  • Mobile incident management
  • Postmortems
  • Status pages
  • Event intelligence

What people use each for

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

Helm

  • Kubernetes package manager and deployment toolnot PagerDuty

PagerDuty

  • Incident managementnot Helm
  • On-call schedulingnot Helm
  • Real-time alertingnot Helm
  • Service reliabilitynot Helm
  • Digital operationsnot Helm

Where each one falls short

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

Helm

  • Licensed under Apache License 2.0 per the project's GitHub repository (helm/helm LICENSE); as open source software it has no paid tier or vendor price to compare
  • Contributors must sign commits under the Developer Certificate of Origin to have them accepted, per helm.sh, a process requirement not all Kubernetes tools impose

PagerDuty

  • AIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • Complex escalation policies require workarounds for scheduling patterns beyond basic weekly rotations
  • 5-user minimum requirement forces costs even for small teams, with forced Business tier upgrades adding $12,000+ annually for larger teams

Pricing, plan by plan

Helm

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Helm review.

PagerDuty

$21/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PagerDuty review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Helm if

  • You want to start without paying.
Helm review

Choose PagerDuty if

  • You need incident response.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want on-call management.
PagerDuty review

Questions people ask

Is Helm or PagerDuty better?
Neither clearly leads. Helm starts at Free and PagerDuty at $21/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Helm or PagerDuty?
Helm has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Helm and $21/month for PagerDuty.
Does Helm or PagerDuty run on more platforms?
Helm runs on Web. PagerDuty runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Helm for free?
Yes. Helm has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PagerDuty starts at $21/month.
What is Helm best used for?
Helm is most often used for kubernetes package manager and deployment tool. Of those, kubernetes package manager and deployment tool is not what PagerDuty is typically brought in for.
What can Helm do that PagerDuty cannot?
PagerDuty covers Incident response, On-call management, Alert grouping, Escalation policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Helm: How much does Helm cost?

Helm is free and open-source. It is a graduated project in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) with no commercial pricing model.

Source
PagerDuty: What is the minimum cost to use PagerDuty?

PagerDuty requires a minimum of 5 users per account. The Professional plan starts at $21 per user per month ($105/month minimum), with annual billing providing 16% discount.

Source
PagerDuty: What integrations does PagerDuty support?

PagerDuty integrates with 750+ monitoring, ticketing, and collaboration tools including Datadog, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, New Relic, and Nagios.

Source
PagerDuty: How much does AIOps cost in PagerDuty?

AIOps Intelligence is sold separately as an add-on starting at $699 per month, and is not included in any of the base plans.

Source
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