Can AI replace Checkly?
KINDA · weekend projectThe core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Checkly, run scheduled API and browser checks from one independent worker. The hard boundary is global browser fleet, playwright operations, alerting, ci integration, and support, plus independent infrastructure and reliable alerting.
Build a personal replacement for Checkly in an empty repository. Use Go, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, a Next.js 15 dashboard, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: run scheduled API and browser checks from one independent worker, receive bounded error or log events, alert through one channel, and publish an honest status page. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement HTTP, TCP, DNS, TLS-expiry, and heartbeat checks with explicit timeout and retry policies. Run checks from one independently hosted worker and store raw results plus incident state transitions. Send deduplicated alerts to email or one webhook destination with recovery notifications. Create services, maintenance windows, incidents, subscribers, and a public status page. Add bounded event ingestion for application errors with sampling and sensitive-field scrubbing. Provide health checks, retention settings, exports, backups, and a test-alert function. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out a worldwide probe network. Deliberately leave out phone, SMS, and managed on-call escalation. Deliberately leave out unbounded logs, enterprise observability, and vendor-operated incident response. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.
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People still pay for Checkly because monitoring must continue working during the exact outage it reports, which makes independent infrastructure and alert delivery the real product. The recurring cost buys probe geography, clocks, retries, deduplication, sampling, storage, paging, notification delivery, on-call rules, and its own uptime, not just the visible interface.
xglobal browser fleet, Playwright operations, alerting, CI integration, and support
xglobal probe network
xphone and SMS delivery
xmassive retention
xadvanced incident response and support
Can AI replace Checkly?
Kinda. The core of Checkly is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: global browser fleet, Playwright operations, alerting, CI integration, and support, global probe network. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Checkly cost?
Checkly costs about $39/month (Starter, checked 2026-07-31), which is $468 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Checkly?
Honestly: global browser fleet, Playwright operations, alerting, CI integration, and support; global probe network; phone and SMS delivery; massive retention; advanced incident response and support. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Checkly?
Yes — Uptime Kuma (Popular open-source uptime monitoring dashboard with many check types.). Using prior art is also a valid exit; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.