PagerDuty vs incident.io: On-Call Tools Compared 2026
Quick Comparison
| PagerDuty | incident.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Teams that want on-call scheduling and escalation policies included in the base price, without a separate add-on. | Teams that run incident response natively inside Slack or Teams and want AI-assisted investigation tooling. |
| Pricing | Free tier available (5 users) / $21/user/mo Professional / $41/user/mo Business / Enterprise custom | Free tier available / $15/user/mo Team (+$10/user/mo on-call add-on) / $25/user/mo Pro (+$20/user/mo on-call add-on) / Enterprise custom |
| Winner | Our Pick |
Tool Breakdown
PagerDuty
PagerDuty bundles on-call scheduling into its base per-user price, while incident.io charges a separate on-call add-on on top of its base plans — making PagerDuty the more predictable, usually cheaper option for teams that need on-call as a core feature rather than a bolt-on.
- On-call scheduling and escalation policies are included at every tier, including the free plan — not a separate line item
- 750+ pre-built integrations available even on the free tier
- Tiered 'PagerDuty Advance' AI-action allowance included in every paid plan
- Free tier limited to 1 schedule and 1 escalation policy — teams with multiple rotations need a paid tier
- Chat-native workflows are less deeply integrated with Slack/Teams than incident.io's chat-first design
incident.io
incident.io is a modern, Slack- and Microsoft Teams-native incident-response platform with AI-assisted investigations, though on-call is billed as a separate add-on rather than included in base pricing.
- Deep native Slack and Microsoft Teams integration built around how engineering teams already communicate
- AI-powered 'Investigations' feature helps identify root causes, draft pull requests, and suggest next steps
- Permanent free 'Basic' tier for very small teams testing the product
- On-call is a separate paid add-on ($10/user/mo on Team, $20/user/mo on Pro) — not bundled into the base per-user price like PagerDuty
- Free tier capped to single-team on-call, 1 status page, 1 schedule, and 2 integrations
Frequently Asked Questions
Is on-call included in incident.io's base price? +
No. On-call is a separate paid add-on on top of incident.io's base per-user price — $10/user/mo on the Team plan and $20/user/mo on the Pro plan. PagerDuty, by contrast, includes on-call scheduling at every tier, including its free plan.
Which tool is better for teams already living in Slack? +
incident.io, which is built natively around Slack and Microsoft Teams workflows and includes AI-assisted 'Investigations' for root-cause analysis. PagerDuty supports chat integrations too, but its workflow isn't chat-first the way incident.io's is.
Which has the more generous free tier, PagerDuty or incident.io? +
PagerDuty's free tier supports 5 users with 1 schedule, 1 escalation policy, and 750+ integrations. incident.io's free 'Basic' tier is capped tighter — single-team on-call, 1 status page, 1 schedule, and only 2 integrations — making PagerDuty's free plan the more usable starting point for most small teams.