---
title: "Compare Monitoring Providers | Edge Pulse"
description: "Compare Edge Pulse to Pingdom, UptimeRobot, Datadog Synthetic, and Better Uptime. See why residential monitoring changes everything."
url: https://edge.network/pulse/compare/
---

# Compare Monitoring Providers | Edge Pulse

[Pulse](https://edge.network/pulse)

Pulse

# How Pulse Compares

The only monitoring platform that tests from real residential connections. See how we stack up against every alternative.

## Feature Comparison

A detailed breakdown of Pulse vs the most popular monitoring tools.

| Feature | Pulse | Pingdom | UptimeRobot | Datadog | Better Uptime |
| Probe Locations | 2,000+ residential | ~120 data centres | ~30 data centres | ~70 data centres | ~30 data centres |
| Residential IPs |
| Check Frequency | 30s | 1 min | 30s (paid) | 1 min | 30s (paid) |
| HTTP/HTTPS Checks |
| DNS Monitoring |
| SSL Monitoring |
| Multi-step API |
| Page Speed |
| Status Pages | Free shared, $2/mo custom | $29/mo extra | $7/mo extra | Included |
| Starting Price | $0 (150k runs/mo free) | $15/mo | $0 (5 min) | $5/check/mo | $0 (5 monitors) |
| Usage-based Pricing |
| Multi-location Confirmation |
| Slack Integration |
| PagerDuty Integration |

## What makes Pulse different

It's not just more locations. It's a fundamentally different approach to monitoring.

### Residential vs data centre

Every competitor runs probes from data centres — the same networks that CDNs, cloud providers, and infrastructure companies use. Pulse runs from real homes on real ISPs. If your users can't reach your site but AWS can, only Pulse will catch it.

### See what your users see

Data centre probes benefit from direct peering, cloud allowlists, and optimised routing. Your users don't. Pulse tests from the same residential resolvers, ISP routes, and network conditions your actual visitors experience.

### 2,000+ locations, not 30

Competitors offer 30–120 probe locations in major cities. Pulse has 2,000+ locations in cities, suburbs, and rural areas worldwide — because Edge Hosts are community-contributed machines on real broadband connections.

### Pay per run, not per monitor

No plans and no per-monitor fees. Every account gets 150,000 standard check runs free each month; beyond that, usage is deducted hourly from the same prepaid balance as Edge compute. Tune checks, frequency, and locations freely.

## Detailed Comparisons

How Pulse stacks up against each competitor, head to head.

### Pulse vs Pingdom

One of the original uptime monitoring services, now owned by SolarWinds.

Pingdom Pros

- Well-established brand
- Good feature set
- Reliable infrastructure

Pingdom Cons

- Data centre probes only
- Status pages cost $29/mo extra
- Starting at $15/mo
- Owned by SolarWinds (enterprise pricing)

Edge Advantage

Pulse offers 16x more probe locations on residential networks, a free shared status page, and 150,000 free check runs every month — no plan required.

### Pulse vs UptimeRobot

Popular for its generous free tier and simplicity.

UptimeRobot Pros

- Free tier (50 monitors)
- Simple interface
- Affordable paid plans

UptimeRobot Cons

- Only ~30 probe locations
- No DNS or SSL monitoring on free
- No multi-step API checks
- No page speed monitoring

Edge Advantage

Pulse provides residential probes, DNS/SSL/API/Page Speed monitoring, and status pages — all from 2,000+ locations.

### Pulse vs Datadog Synthetic

Enterprise-grade synthetic monitoring as part of the Datadog observability platform.

Datadog Synthetic Pros

- Deep APM integration
- Browser testing
- Comprehensive dashboards

Datadog Synthetic Cons

- $5 per API test/month
- $12 per browser test/month
- Complex pricing
- Data centre probes only

Edge Advantage

With per-run pricing, Pulse works out around 70x cheaper than Datadog synthetics at scale — and uniquely offers residential probe locations no enterprise tool can match.

### Pulse vs Better Uptime

Modern uptime monitoring with a focus on incident management.

Better Uptime Pros

- Clean interface
- Incident management built in
- Free status pages

Better Uptime Cons

- Only ~30 data centre probes
- Limited check types
- No API workflow monitoring
- No page speed monitoring

Edge Advantage

Pulse offers 60x more probe locations, all on residential networks, with full DNS, SSL, API, and page speed monitoring.

## Why choose Pulse?

The numbers speak for themselves.

2,000+

Residential probe locations

150,000

Free check runs every month

Free

Shared status page on every account

[Start Monitoring Free](https://edge.network/account)