Comparison
Script-Free Monitoring or Playwright Tests? Choose Your Approach.
Checkly is powerful synthetic monitoring built on Playwright. You write browser test scripts that simulate user flows — login, checkout, form submission. Sitewatch takes a different approach: paste your URLs, and every resource on your pages is validated automatically. No scripts to write. No tests to maintain. Two tools, two philosophies.
- Zero scripts — Sitewatch auto-discovers and validates every asset
- No test maintenance — checks adapt as your pages change
- Free for 1 site. Flat pricing, no per-check billing.
Feature comparison
Scripted synthetic monitoring vs script-free website monitoring
| Feature | Checkly | Sitewatch |
|---|---|---|
| Setup approach | Write Playwright test scripts | Paste URLs — auto-discovery |
| Scripting required | Yes (JavaScript/TypeScript) | No |
| Test maintenance | Scripts break when UI changes | Auto-adapts to page changes |
| Multi-step user flows | Yes (login, checkout, etc.) | No — resource-level validation |
| Asset validation | Only if you script it | Every linked JS, CSS, image, font |
| MIME type verification | Only if you assert it | Automatic on every check |
| Deploy hooks | Yes (CLI + CI) | Yes (Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Actions) |
| Root cause diagnosis | Test failure message | Typed incidents with fix playbooks |
| Stack detection | No | 23+ platforms auto-detected |
| Status pages | Yes | Branded + password-protected |
| Monitoring as Code | Yes (Terraform, Pulumi) | No — UI-driven |
| API monitoring | Yes (API checks) | Yes |
| Target audience | Developers who write tests | Agencies and dev teams |
| Starting price | ~$30/mo (scales with checks) | Free (1 site) / $19/mo Pro ($190/yr annual) |
Setup approach
Scripting required
Test maintenance
Multi-step user flows
Asset validation
MIME type verification
Deploy hooks
Root cause diagnosis
Stack detection
Status pages
Monitoring as Code
API monitoring
Target audience
Starting price
The scripting blind spot
Failures you'd have to explicitly script for — or miss entirely
New asset not covered by tests
CriticalYour team adds a new script dependency. Nobody updates the Playwright tests. The script 404s after the next deploy. Your tests pass because they never checked it.
CSS MIME type mismatch
CriticalA CDN misconfiguration serves your stylesheet as text/html. Browsers block it. Unless your Playwright test explicitly asserts the MIME type of every CSS file, this goes undetected.
Image CDN failure
ModerateYour image optimization service fails. Hero images and product photos disappear. Playwright tests that don't check every image resource won't catch it.
Test maintenance burden
ModerateA design change moves a button. A form field gets renamed. Your test fails — not because the site is broken, but because the test is stale. Maintenance overhead grows with every test.
Right tool, right job
Checkly and Sitewatch serve different monitoring needs
Use Checkly when...
You have developers who can write and maintain Playwright scripts. You need to verify multi-step user flows — login, search, checkout, payment confirmation. Checkly is purpose-built for scripted synthetic monitoring.
Use Sitewatch when...
You need every resource on your pages validated without writing a single test. No scripts to maintain, no test failures from UI changes. Sitewatch auto-discovers and checks every asset, with root cause diagnosis and fix playbooks.
Use both when...
You want scripted flow verification AND resource-level validation. Checkly tests your checkout flow works end-to-end. Sitewatch catches the broken asset that makes the checkout page load without a payment form.
Comparison FAQ
Only if your monitoring needs don't require scripted user flows. Checkly lets you simulate multi-step interactions (login, fill form, click checkout). Sitewatch validates every resource on a page without scripts. If you need both flow verification and asset validation, run them together.
For teams that need website monitoring without scripting, yes. If your monitoring today is "paste URLs and tell me if something breaks," Sitewatch is built for that. If your monitoring requires custom Playwright scripts for complex user flows, Checkly is the better fit.
No. Checkly supports Terraform and Pulumi for infrastructure-as-code workflows. Sitewatch is UI-driven — you configure monitoring through the dashboard. For developer-led teams that want everything in code, Checkly has the edge. For teams that want fast setup without code, Sitewatch is simpler.
Checkly pricing starts around $30/month and scales with check volume. More checks and more locations mean higher costs. Sitewatch is flat: free for 1 site, $9/month for 25 sites, $19/month for 100 sites. Annual billing saves 2 months ($90/yr Starter, $190/yr Pro). No per-check billing, no usage surprises.
Sitewatch validates the resources that power those flows — scripts, stylesheets, and dependencies. It does not simulate user interactions like clicking buttons or filling forms. If the Stripe.js bundle 404s, Sitewatch catches it. If you need to verify the full checkout flow completes, use Checkly or a similar scripted tool.
Website monitoring without the scripting overhead
Free plan. 1 site. No Playwright required.