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Honeybadger vs Rootly

Honeybadger logo

Honeybadger

Logging

Error and Uptime Monitoring for Developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rootly logo

Rootly

Logging

AI-native incident management with automation, on-call, and root cause analysis

From
$20/user-month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Honeybadger has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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; Rootly pricing higher than some competitors for basic features
  • They diverge on capability: Honeybadger covers Error tracking, Rootly covers AI SRE automation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Honeybadger and Rootly actually diverge.

Attributes where Honeybadger and Rootly differ
AttributeHoneybadgerRootly
Starting priceFree$20/user-month
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams
Founded20122020

Identical on both: 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 Honeybadger

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

Only in Rootly

  • AI SRE automation
  • Alert routing
  • On-call management
  • Incident response
  • Call routing
  • AI meeting bot

Both cover

  • Status pages

What people use each for

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

Honeybadger

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

Rootly

  • Automate on-call and incident response workflowsnot Honeybadger
  • Run root cause analysis with AI assistancenot Honeybadger
  • Track and improve Mean Time to Mitigation (MTTR)not Honeybadger
  • Coordinate response across distributed teamsnot Honeybadger
  • Learn from post-incident retrospectivesnot Honeybadger

Where each one falls short

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

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

Rootly

  • Pricing higher than some competitors for basic features
  • AI SRE features require separate contact-sales engagement
  • Learning curve for advanced automation features
  • Per-user pricing increases costs as team grows

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Rootly

$20/user-month
  • Incident Response Essentials$20/user-month
    • Response with Slack integration
    • @Rootly AI Chat
    • AI Similar Incidents detection
  • Incident Response Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • All Essentials features
    • Custom forms and incident types
    • Private incidents
  • On-Call Essentials$20/user-month
    • Alert grouping and routing
    • Live call routing (1 phone number)
    • Schedules and escalation policies
  • On-Call Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • All Essentials features
    • 5 phone numbers for call routing
    • Unlimited schedules

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Rootly if

  • You need ai sre automation.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams.
  • You also want alert routing.
Rootly review

Questions people ask

Is Honeybadger or Rootly better?
Neither clearly leads. Honeybadger starts at Free and Rootly at $20/user-month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Honeybadger or Rootly?
Honeybadger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Honeybadger and $20/user-month for Rootly.
Does Honeybadger or Rootly run on more platforms?
Honeybadger runs on Web, Api. Rootly runs on Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams.
Can I use Honeybadger for free?
Yes. Honeybadger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rootly starts at $20/user-month.
What is Honeybadger best used for?
Honeybadger is most often used for exception and error tracking for ruby, elixir, php, python and javascript applications, uptime and cron heartbeat monitoring alongside error data, publishing a public status page for a small saas product. Of those, exception and error tracking for ruby, elixir, php, python and javascript applications and uptime and cron heartbeat monitoring alongside error data are not what Rootly is typically brought in for.
What can Honeybadger do that Rootly cannot?
Honeybadger covers Error tracking, Uptime monitoring, Incident management, API. Rootly covers AI SRE automation, Alert routing, On-call management, Incident response. Both handle Status pages.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Rootly: How much does Rootly cost?

Rootly charges $20/user/month for both Incident Response and On-Call Essentials plans. Enterprise plans require contacting sales. Startups under 100 employees with less than $50M raised get up to 50% discount.

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
Rootly: What is Rootly AI SRE?

AI SRE is an advanced feature that provides automated root cause analysis, alert correlation with system changes, impact analysis, and remediation suggestions. Pricing requires contact with sales.

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
Rootly: Does Rootly integrate with Slack?

Yes, Rootly natively integrates with Slack for incident response workflows, allowing teams to manage incidents directly in Slack.

Source
Rootly: Are there discounts for small companies?

Yes, startups under 100 employees or less than 25 employees can get special pricing up to 50% discount. Contact Rootly sales for details.

Source
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