Pulsy vs Better Stack
The open-source Better Stack (Better Uptime) alternative
Better Stack bundles monitoring, on-call, and status pages as a closed-source hosted product on per-seat pricing. Pulsy covers the uptime, TLS-expiry, incident, and status-page pieces as open-source software under AGPL-3.0 — self-host it free forever with unlimited seats, or run Pulsy Cloud on flat plans instead of a per-seat bill.
Where Pulsy differs from Better Stack
- Open source (AGPL-3.0) — self-host free forever, with no seat count and no licence key.
- No per-seat pricing. Pulsy Cloud is flat plans; self-hosted has no bill at all.
- Public status pages with custom domains, included everywhere.
- Localized dashboard in five languages with full right-to-left support.
Better Stack vs Pulsy, side by side
| Feature | Pulsy (self-hosted) | Pulsy Cloud | Better Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free forever — you run it (AGPL-3.0) | Free tier, paid plans from $12/mo | Per-seat paid tiers |
| Source code | Open source, AGPL-3.0 | The same AGPL-3.0 code, managed for you | Proprietary |
| Where your data lives | Your own infrastructure | Hosted by Pulsy, exportable any time | Hosted by Better Stack |
| Pricing model | No bill, no seat count | Flat plans | Priced per seat |
| On-call scheduling | Not included — alerts to your channels | Not included — alerts to your channels | Included |
| Status pages | Included, custom domains | Included, custom domains | Included |
| Notification channels | Email, webhook, Slack, Discord, Telegram | Email, webhook, Slack, Discord, Telegram | Many integrations |
| Dashboard | Localized (5 languages, RTL) | Localized (5 languages, RTL) | English-first |
Switching from Better Stack is painless
Recreate your monitors and status page in Pulsy, connect the same Slack or webhook channels, and confirm alerts before you cut over. Self-host with docker compose to keep the data on your own infrastructure, or use Pulsy Cloud. Your data is exportable at any time, and because the software is AGPL-3.0 you can always take the whole thing in-house later.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there an open-source Better Stack alternative?
- Yes. Pulsy is open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later and covers uptime, TLS-expiry, incident grouping, notifications, and status pages. Self-host it free forever, or use Pulsy Cloud on flat plans if you prefer managed hosting.
- Does Pulsy charge per seat?
- No. Self-hosted Pulsy has no seat count at all. Pulsy Cloud is flat plans — the Team plan includes multiple seats without a per-seat line item.
- Does Pulsy do incident management like Better Uptime?
- Pulsy groups consecutive failures into incidents with an ongoing → resolved lifecycle and notifies your channels. It focuses on monitoring and status; it is not a full on-call scheduling suite, so if rotations and escalation policies are the point of your purchase, Better Stack does more.
- Can I use my own domain for the status page?
- Yes. Pulsy status pages support custom domains so you can serve status on your own hostname, self-hosted or on Cloud.
Compare Pulsy with other monitors
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