Watchgoose vs Healthchecks.io: which scheduled-job monitor fits?
On the monitoring checklist, Watchgoose and Healthchecks.io are unusually close. Both hosted services support Simple, Cron, and systemd OnCalendar schedules with grace; success, explicit failure, and optional start signals; and project roles for owners, managers, members, and read-only users. Neither runs or automatically observes a job. The monitored process must send a meaningful signal.
The reasons to seek a Healthchecks.io alternative are therefore practical rather than dramatic. Healthchecks.io offers 20 free jobs, names Germany as its hosted data location, accepts PayPal, and publishes an official BSD-licensed self-host option. Watchgoose Free has 10 checks but keeps 200 ping-log entries per check rather than 100. Its paid bundles publish EUR prices, retain 1,500 entries for 100 checks or 3,000 for 1,000 checks, and use Paddle for commercial billing. Choose on deployment, retention, location, and purchasing details, not invented feature distance between the services.
Competitor facts in this introduction: pricing, schedule docs, team docs, payment FAQ, data-residency FAQ, self-hosting docs.
Comparison
| Question | Watchgoose | Healthchecks.io |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | A first success arms missing-success monitoring. A later missing success after schedule plus grace alerts; /fail reports failure and /start optionally records runtime. [1][2] | Checks receive success, /fail, /start, exit-status, and diagnostic /log signals. States include New, Up, Late, Down, and Paused. |
| Public pricing model | Fixed bundles: Free 10 checks; Startup 100 checks and teams for EUR 17/month; Business 1,000 checks for EUR 73/month. [1] | Hobbyist is $0/month for 20 jobs. Supporter is $5/month with the same limits. Business is $20/month for 100 jobs; Business Plus is $80/month for 1,000. Annual Business and Business Plus are $192 and $768. |
| Free plan | 10 checks, one user, and 200 ping-log entries per check. [1] | 20 jobs and 100 log entries per job. Limits apply account-wide across projects. |
| Open source program | Qualifying Open Source projects and nonprofits may receive a needs-matched paid plan free. Watchgoose pledges 5% of profit to Open Source projects. [1] | Healthchecks.io offers the Business plan free of charge for open-source projects and nonprofits. |
| Schedules | Simple intervals, cron expressions, and systemd OnCalendar expressions, with grace. [1] | Simple Period plus Grace Time, Cron with timezone and grace, and systemd OnCalendar expressions. |
| Runtime state | Optional /start records duration and uses the check's grace as the runtime deadline. [1] | Optional /start records runtime; the same Grace Time limits the interval from start to success. Concurrent run IDs are supported, but runtime alerting watches the most recently started run. |
| Teams and access | Startup and Business include project teams with Owner, Team Member, Manager, and Read-only roles. [1][2] | Projects document Owner, Manager, Team Member, and Read-only roles. Public docs do not state a seat limit, per-seat price, or which hosted plans expose every role. |
| Currency, payment, and VAT wording | EUR prices exclude VAT; commercial billing is handled through Paddle. [1][2] | Prices use $ without an ISO currency or VAT-inclusion statement. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal are accepted through Braintree; invoices can include a VAT ID. |
| Data location statement | Europe hosted, operated & owned; no EU-residency claim. [1] | Healthchecks.io says it processes and stores data on Hetzner servers in Germany. Its privacy policy says some processors may store or access information outside the EEA. |
| Management API | Project-scoped API supports substantial check management and restricted read-only keys; no account-wide key is documented. [1] | Project-scoped API covers checks, pause/resume, pings and bodies, status flips, integrations, badges, and database status. Read-write and restricted read-only keys are documented; no account-wide key is offered. |
| Self-hosting | No public Watchgoose self-host distribution was offered on the reviewed pages. [1][2] | Official self-hosted software, source, Dockerfile, and images are available under the BSD 3-Clause licence. Operators must run the web and alert processes, TLS, backups, and independent monitoring. |
| Status publishing | Public SVG and JSON badges expose one check, tag, or project summary for embedding elsewhere. Watchgoose does not offer hosted customer status pages. [1] | Public badges can represent a check, tag, or project in SVG or JSON for use on an external status page. Current docs do not describe a native customer status-page builder. |
| History | Per-check ping-log retention: 200 Free, 1,500 Startup, and 3,000 Business entries. [1] | Per-job log retention: 100 Hobbyist and Supporter; 1,000 Business and Business Plus. Old entries are removed at the plan limit. Status flips retain the current and two complete prior months. |
Choose Healthchecks.io if...
- Its 20-job free allowance fits your workload better than 10 free checks.
- You need an explicit hosted-data statement naming Germany.
- You want an official BSD-licensed self-host option and accept operating it.
- PayPal is a purchasing requirement.
- Your qualifying open-source project or nonprofit can use its advertised free Business-plan offer.
Sources: pricing, data-residency FAQ, self-hosting docs, payment FAQ.
Healthchecks.io is the stronger fit when free check count, a named German data location, PayPal, or an official self-host option is decisive.
Choose Watchgoose if...
- You prefer public EUR pricing and Paddle-managed commercial billing.
- Europe hosted, operated & owned is the purchasing wording you need, without treating it as an EU-residency promise.
- You need 1,500 retained entries with a 100-check Startup bundle or 3,000 with a 1,000-check Business bundle.
- 10 free checks are enough but 200 retained entries per check matter more than Healthchecks.io's 20-check, 100-entry free balance.
- You want a focused hosted service and do not intend to operate a self-hosted monitoring stack.
Watchgoose does not publish an SLA or a self-host distribution. It provides public badges for external pages rather than hosted customer status pages. Healthchecks.io is the more appropriate choice when any of its documented advantages above is required.
Frequently asked questions
Is Watchgoose a good Healthchecks.io alternative?
It can be when public EUR pricing, Paddle billing, or higher per-check history limits matter. Healthchecks.io remains stronger for 20 free jobs, a named German data location, PayPal, and an official self-host option.
Is Healthchecks.io free?
Yes. Its Hobbyist plan lists 20 jobs and 100 log entries per job for $0 per month. Watchgoose Free lists 10 checks and 200 ping-log entries per check.
Do both services support Cron and systemd OnCalendar schedules?
Yes. Both document Simple, Cron, and systemd OnCalendar schedule types with a grace period.
Can I self-host either service?
Healthchecks.io publishes official BSD-licensed self-hosting instructions, source, and container resources. Watchgoose does not offer a public self-host distribution on the reviewed pages.
Where does Healthchecks.io store hosted data?
Healthchecks.io says it processes and stores data on Hetzner servers in Germany. Its privacy policy also allows some processor access or storage outside the EEA.
Which service retains more ping history?
It depends on the plan. Healthchecks.io retains 100 entries on Hobbyist and Supporter and 1,000 on Business and Business Plus. Watchgoose retains 200 on Free, 1,500 on Startup, and 3,000 on Business.
FAQ competitor sources: pricing, schedule docs, self-hosting docs, licence, data-residency FAQ, privacy policy.
All competitor facts re-verified on 2026-07-21. Tell us if something is outdated.