PagerDuty vs Opsgenie
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of PagerDuty and Opsgenie built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose PagerDuty if…
The incumbent on-call tool, free for up to five users with one schedule, one escalation policy and 100 SMS or phone notifications a month — enough to run a real rota for a small team before paying anything.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Opsgenie if…
The cheapest seat in the category by a wide margin, at $9.45 a user billed annually, inside an Atlassian estate where Jira Service Management already lives. Standard makes SMS and voice unlimited, so the allowance stops mattering once you are past Essentials.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- PagerDuty: You are counting seats: Professional is $25 a user a month ($21 billed annually) against Opsgenie's $11.55 ($9.45 annually), and above Free the notification allowance is listed only as "Included", with no number.
- Opsgenie: You are relying on the free plan, or your team is not in North America. Free gives 100 SMS ACCOUNT-WIDE and no voice calls at all. Essentials derives the allowance from headcount and gives users x 25 internationally against users x 100 for the US and Canada — the same seat price, a quarter of the pages.
Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: PagerDuty alternatives · Opsgenie alternatives
4 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
PagerDuty 0
Opsgenie 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | PagerDuty | Opsgenie |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | Up to 5 users, 100 global SMS or phone notifications a month, 1 on-call schedule and 1 escalation policy. | Up to 5 users and 100 SMS notifications account-wide — not per user — with voice notifications not included at all. |
| Entry paid plan | $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually. | $9.45 per user per month billed annually, or $11.55 billed monthly — less than half PagerDuty's seat. |
| Pricing model | Two lines. Incident Management is per user per month: Free up to 5 users, Professional $25/user/month monthly or $21 billed annually. The PD Reliability Platform is a yearly price with seats, events and AI actions included (Starter $2,800, Essential $12,000, Plus $48,000, Ultimate custom), topped up with credit packs. | Per user per month, with the notification allowance derived from headcount rather than fixed: Essentials gives users × 100 SMS in the US and Canada, and users × 25 internationally. Standard makes both unlimited. |
| On-call | ||
| SMS and voice allowance | 100 global SMS or phone notifications a month on the free plan, account-wide. The comparison table lists SMS/phone notifications as "Included" on Professional and the PD Reliability Platform plans, with no number attached. | The free plan gives 100 SMS account-wide and NO voice notifications — for a tool whose job is waking someone up. Essentials scales with headcount: users × 100 in the US and Canada, users × 25 internationally. Standard is unlimited on both. |
Where they differ.
What the free plan includes
Up to 5 users, 100 global SMS or phone notifications a month, 1 on-call schedule and 1 escalation policy.
Up to 5 users and 100 SMS notifications account-wide — not per user — with voice notifications not included at all.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PagerDuty Pricing ↗
“Free A single team trying on-call and incident response. $0 per year [...] Includes: 5 users 1 on-call schedule, 1 escalation policy [...] *Free plan accounts receive 100 free global SMS or phone notifications per month.”
Read 2026-09-27 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Opsgenie Pricing ↗
“free basic alerting and on-call management for small teams $0 up to 5 users [...] free 100 sms notifications (account wide). voice notifications not included.”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing · Report a correction
Entry paid plan
- PagerDuty
- $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually.
- Opsgenie
- $9.45 per user per month billed annually, or $11.55 billed monthly — less than half PagerDuty's seat.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PagerDuty Pricing ↗
“Professional Small teams looking to standardize incident management. Monthly Annually (16% Off) $25 $21 Save $48/user annually per user / month”
Read 2026-09-27 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Opsgenie Pricing ↗
“essentials alerting and incident management, optimized for simplicity $9.45 per user, per month billed annually or $11.55 billed monthly”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing · Report a correction
Pricing model
- PagerDuty
- Two lines. Incident Management is per user per month: Free up to 5 users, Professional $25/user/month monthly or $21 billed annually. The PD Reliability Platform is a yearly price with seats, events and AI actions included (Starter $2,800, Essential $12,000, Plus $48,000, Ultimate custom), topped up with credit packs.
- Opsgenie
- Per user per month, with the notification allowance derived from headcount rather than fixed: Essentials gives users × 100 SMS in the US and Canada, and users × 25 internationally. Standard makes both unlimited.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PagerDuty Pricing ↗
“Monthly Annually (16% Off) $25 $21 Save $48/user annually per user / month [...] Professional $21 / user / mo Start Free Trial Starter $2,800 / year Start Free Trial Essential $12,000 / year Start Free Trial Plus $48,000 / year Start Free Trial Ultimate Custom Pricing [...] Need more seats, events, or actions? Top up with credit packs and apply them towards what you need.”
Read 2026-09-27 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Opsgenie Pricing ↗
“sms/voice notifications (us & canada) free 100 sms notifications (account wide). voice notifications not included. essentials # of users x100 standard unlimited”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing · Report a correction
SMS and voice allowance
- PagerDuty
- 100 global SMS or phone notifications a month on the free plan, account-wide. The comparison table lists SMS/phone notifications as "Included" on Professional and the PD Reliability Platform plans, with no number attached.
- Opsgenie
- The free plan gives 100 SMS account-wide and NO voice notifications — for a tool whose job is waking someone up. Essentials scales with headcount: users × 100 in the US and Canada, users × 25 internationally. Standard is unlimited on both.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PagerDuty Pricing ↗
“SMS/Phone notifications Our infrastructure sends millions of notifications each week via SMS and phone. *Free plan accounts receive 100 free global SMS or phone notifications per month. 100/month Included Included Included Included Included”
Read 2026-09-27 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Opsgenie Pricing ↗
“sms/voice notifications (us & canada) free 100 sms notifications (account wide). voice notifications not included. essentials # of users x100 standard unlimited enterprise unlimited sms/voice notifications (international) free 100 sms notifications (account wide). voice notifications not included. essentials # of users x25”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing · Report a correction
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: PagerDuty or Opsgenie?
PagerDuty: $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually.
Opsgenie: $9.45 per user per month billed annually, or $11.55 billed monthly — less than half PagerDuty's seat.
Should I choose PagerDuty or Opsgenie?
Pick PagerDuty if The incumbent on-call tool, free for up to five users with one schedule, one escalation policy and 100 SMS or phone notifications a month — enough to run a real rota for a small team before paying anything.
Pick Opsgenie if The cheapest seat in the category by a wide margin, at $9.45 a user billed annually, inside an Atlassian estate where Jira Service Management already lives. Standard makes SMS and voice unlimited, so the allowance stops mattering once you are past Essentials.
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