Comparison
Focused synthetic monitoring vs full observability platform. Here's how they compare.
Pingdom is a synthetic monitoring tool. Datadog is a full observability platform. They're not direct competitors—Datadog includes synthetic monitoring as one of many features.
Pingdom has simple, fixed pricing. Datadog uses usage-based pricing that can become very expensive at scale. Many companies face surprising Datadog bills.
Pingdom is plug-and-play. Datadog requires agents, instrumentation, and configuration—it's more powerful but more complex to set up.
Use Pingdom if you just need external monitoring (uptime, RUM, page speed) and want predictable costs.
Use Datadog if you need a complete observability solution and can handle the cost and complexity.
Many teams use both: Datadog for APM and infrastructure, plus a simpler tool for uptime monitoring.
Simple, affordable uptime monitoring. No surprise bills. 25 monitors free.
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