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PagerDuty vs VictoriaMetrics

PagerDuty logo

PagerDuty

Technology

Real-time operations for real-time business

From
$21/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VictoriaMetrics logo

VictoriaMetrics

Cloud

Fast, cost-effective time series database for metrics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only VictoriaMetrics has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: PagerDuty aIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost; VictoriaMetrics promQL compatibility is very close but not identical, and MetricsQL extensions do not port back
  • They diverge on capability: PagerDuty covers Incident response, VictoriaMetrics covers PromQL compatible.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PagerDuty and VictoriaMetrics actually diverge.

Attributes where PagerDuty and VictoriaMetrics differ
AttributePagerDutyVictoriaMetrics
Starting price$21/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted
CategoryTechnologyCloud
Founded2009Unknown

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 PagerDuty

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

Only in VictoriaMetrics

  • PromQL compatible
  • Low resource use
  • Single binary or cluster
  • Remote write target

What people use each for

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

PagerDuty

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

VictoriaMetrics

  • Keeping months or years of Prometheus metrics without the memory costnot PagerDuty
  • High-cardinality metrics where Prometheus strugglesnot PagerDuty
  • Consolidating metrics from many Prometheus instances into one queryable storenot PagerDuty

Where each one falls short

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

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

VictoriaMetrics

  • PromQL compatibility is very close but not identical, and MetricsQL extensions do not port back
  • Smaller community than Prometheus, so fewer guides and third-party integrations
  • The clustered version has meaningfully more moving parts than the single binary suggests
  • Some enterprise features sit outside the open-source offering

Pricing, plan by plan

PagerDuty

$21/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PagerDuty review.

VictoriaMetrics

Free
  • VictoriaMetricsFree
    • Full functionality
    • No data limits
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose PagerDuty if

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

Choose VictoriaMetrics if

  • You need promql compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want low resource use.
VictoriaMetrics review

Questions people ask

Is PagerDuty or VictoriaMetrics better?
Neither clearly leads. PagerDuty starts at $21/month and VictoriaMetrics at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PagerDuty or VictoriaMetrics?
VictoriaMetrics has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $21/month for PagerDuty and Free for VictoriaMetrics.
Does PagerDuty or VictoriaMetrics run on more platforms?
PagerDuty runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. VictoriaMetrics runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use VictoriaMetrics for free?
Yes. VictoriaMetrics has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PagerDuty starts at $21/month.
What is PagerDuty best used for?
PagerDuty is most often used for incident management, on-call scheduling, real-time alerting, service reliability. Of those, incident management and on-call scheduling are not what VictoriaMetrics is typically brought in for.
What can PagerDuty do that VictoriaMetrics cannot?
PagerDuty covers Incident response, On-call management, Alert grouping, Escalation policies. VictoriaMetrics covers PromQL compatible, Low resource use, Single binary or cluster, Remote write target.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
VictoriaMetrics: Is VictoriaMetrics free?

The open-source version is free with no data limits. An enterprise edition and cloud service are paid.

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
VictoriaMetrics: Does it replace Prometheus?

It can, but most teams keep Prometheus for scraping and use VictoriaMetrics as the long-term store behind it.

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
VictoriaMetrics: Is PromQL fully supported?

Very nearly. It implements PromQL and extends it with MetricsQL, though a small number of edge-case behaviours differ.

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