# PagerDuty vs Squadcast

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/pagerduty-vs-squadcast/

Every value below is read from PagerDuty's and Squadcast's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | PagerDuty | Squadcast |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free trial |
| Entry paid plan | $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually — the dearest seat of the four. | $15 per user per month billed annually, described as a starting price. |
| Pricing model | Per user per month, with the things that make an on-call tool work — notification volume, number of schedules, number of escalation policies — all gated by tier rather than sold separately. | Per user per month, with SMS and voice notifications worldwide included in the seat rather than allowanced — the only one of the four that does not gate notification volume by tier or headcount. |
| SMS and voice allowance | 100 international phone or SMS notifications a month on the free plan, account-wide. Professional promises "more" without saying how many — the figure is published for the free tier and not for the paid one. | SMS and voice worldwide, plus unlimited email and push, all included in the seat price with no published cap and no regional split. |

## Where they differ

### Free tier

- PagerDuty: Yes ([source](https://www.pagerduty.com/pricing/))
- Squadcast: No ([source](https://www.squadcast.com/pricing))

### Kind of free offer

- PagerDuty: Free tier ([source](https://www.pagerduty.com/pricing/))
- Squadcast: Free trial ([source](https://www.squadcast.com/pricing))

### Entry paid plan

- PagerDuty: $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually — the dearest seat of the four. ([source](https://www.pagerduty.com/pricing/))
- Squadcast: $15 per user per month billed annually, described as a starting price. ([source](https://www.squadcast.com/pricing))

### Pricing model

- PagerDuty: Per user per month, with the things that make an on-call tool work — notification volume, number of schedules, number of escalation policies — all gated by tier rather than sold separately. ([source](https://www.pagerduty.com/pricing/))
- Squadcast: Per user per month, with SMS and voice notifications worldwide included in the seat rather than allowanced — the only one of the four that does not gate notification volume by tier or headcount. ([source](https://www.squadcast.com/pricing))

### SMS and voice allowance

- PagerDuty: 100 international phone or SMS notifications a month on the free plan, account-wide. Professional promises "more" without saying how many — the figure is published for the free tier and not for the paid one. ([source](https://www.pagerduty.com/pricing/))
- Squadcast: SMS and voice worldwide, plus unlimited email and push, all included in the seat price with no published cap and no regional split. ([source](https://www.squadcast.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

Pick PagerDuty if The incumbent, and the one most likely to already integrate with whatever you run — 750+ out-of-box integrations on the free plan. Five users, one schedule and one escalation policy free is enough to run a real rota for a small team before paying anything.

Pick Squadcast if Paging people in more than one country without watching a meter. SMS and voice are worldwide and inside the $15 seat — no cap, no regional split, no headcount multiplier — which is the only plan here where an engineer in Europe costs the same to page as one in Ohio.

Consider something else: PagerDuty — You are counting seats or notifications. At $25 a user it is the dearest here, roughly 2.6x Opsgenie's annual rate, and the notification allowance above the free tier is stated only as "more" — the figure is published for the plan you are not paying for.

Consider something else: Squadcast — You want to start free. There is no standing free plan, only a 14-day trial, so a five-person team that would pay nothing on PagerDuty or Opsgenie starts at $75 a month. The $15 is also described as a starting price rather than the price.

## Documented by only one

- What the free plan includes: PagerDuty: Up to 5 users, 100 international phone or SMS notifications a month, 1 on-call schedule and 1 escalation policy.
- When the free offer ends: Squadcast: 14 days, fully functional. There is no standing free plan behind it.
- On-call schedules: PagerDuty: 1 schedule and 1 escalation policy on the free plan. Professional says "more on-call schedules" and "more escalation policies" with no number attached.
- Role-based access control: Squadcast: Role-based access control is included in the Pro plan, the entry tier.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: PagerDuty or Squadcast?**

PagerDuty: $25 per user per month for Professional, or $21 billed annually — the dearest seat of the four.
Squadcast: $15 per user per month billed annually, described as a starting price.

**Free tier: PagerDuty or Squadcast?**

PagerDuty: Yes
Squadcast: No

**Should I choose PagerDuty or Squadcast?**

Pick PagerDuty if The incumbent, and the one most likely to already integrate with whatever you run — 750+ out-of-box integrations on the free plan. Five users, one schedule and one escalation policy free is enough to run a real rota for a small team before paying anything.
Pick Squadcast if Paging people in more than one country without watching a meter. SMS and voice are worldwide and inside the $15 seat — no cap, no regional split, no headcount multiplier — which is the only plan here where an engineer in Europe costs the same to page as one in Ohio.