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.
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Start with 10 checks on the permanent Free plan.
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. |
| Sign-in options | Email login links and password login remain available. GitHub sign-up and sign-in use the verified primary email; Watchgoose does not retain the GitHub token, account ID, username, or profile data. [1][2][3] | One-time email link or email and password, with optional WebAuthn security keys or TOTP for two-factor authentication. No GitHub sign-up or sign-in control appeared on the reviewed hosted account surfaces. |
| 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. |
| MCP and Claude | Publicly documented hosted MCP endpoint with OAuth 2.1 for one approved project. Access starts read-only; write access requires explicit authorization and project permission. Watchgoose is listed in Claude's connector directory, listed in ChatGPT plugins for GPT and Codex, and published in the official MCP Registry. [1][2][3][4] | No customer-facing hosted MCP server was found on the reviewed public site, documentation, or standard MCP/OAuth discovery paths. The documented automation interface is a project-scoped Management API using API keys, and the reviewed Claude directory search returned no matching connector. |
| Self-hosting | No public Watchgoose self-host distribution was offered on the reviewed pages. [1][2] | Official BSD 3-Clause self-hosting instructions, source, a sample Docker configuration, and pre-built images are available. The docs cover alert processing, TLS termination, backups, and an API status endpoint that an external monitor can check. |
| Status publishing | One basic opt-in public status page per project is available on all plans. It shows up to 100 owner-selected checks with ordered client-safe public names, optional groups, current state, and last-result age. [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 want a hosted MCP connection listed in Claude's connector directory, with read-only access by default.
- You want GitHub sign-up and sign-in alongside email login.
- 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 one basic opt-in public project status page. Healthchecks.io is the more appropriate choice when any of its documented advantages above is required.
Frequently asked questions
Which service offers hosted MCP access?
Watchgoose documents an OAuth-protected MCP endpoint for one approved project and is listed in Claude's connector directory. No customer-facing hosted MCP server or matching Claude directory connector was found on the Healthchecks.io public surfaces reviewed on 2026-09-03; its Management API remains a documented API-key automation option.
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.
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, Management API, data-residency FAQ, privacy policy.
All competitor facts re-verified on 2026-09-03. Tell us if something is outdated.