Canary9 vs Datadog Synthetics
Datadog Synthetics combines broad protocol and browser testing with the wider Datadog platform. Canary9 focuses on uptime monitoring with published plan prices. The right fit depends on the test types, run frequency, and telemetry you need.
Canary9 is better for
- Teams who need predictable, flat-rate billing
- Dedicated uptime monitoring without a full APM platform
- Small fleets that fit the published plan limits
- One product for HTTP, TCP, DNS, and ICMP uptime checks
Datadog is better for
- Teams already invested in the Datadog platform
- Multi-step API tests and complex transaction scripting
- Correlating synthetics with APM traces and logs
- Browser, gRPC, and other advanced synthetic tests
- Private locations available today
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Canary9 | Datadog Synthetics | |
|---|---|---|
| Check Types | ||
| HTTP / HTTPS API tests | ✓ | ✓ |
| TCP port checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| DNS resolution checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| ICMP ping checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser tests | Startup | ✓ |
| Multi-step API tests | Coming soon | ✓ |
| gRPC tests | Coming soon | ✓ |
| Pricing model | ||
| Billing basis | Per plan / endpoint limit | Per test run |
| API published starting price | Included in plan | $5 / 10K runs (annual) |
| Browser published starting price | Included in Startup | $12 / 1K runs (annual) |
| Locations affect run count | – | ✓ |
| Platform and operations | ||
| Minimum API test interval | 1 min (Pro+) | 1 min |
| Minimum browser test interval | 1 min (Startup) | 5 min |
| Slack and PagerDuty alerts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Programmatic test management | Coming soon | REST API |
| Private-location setup fee | Coming soon | No additional fee; runs billed |
| APM, trace, and log correlation | – | With other Datadog plans |
Last verified 2026-08-03 against Datadog's public pricing and documentation pages. Datadog capabilities and prices can change; check the current offer before you buy.
Cost analysis by scenario
Estimates use Datadog's published annually billed starting rates: $5 per 10,000 API runs and $12 per 1,000 browser runs. At a 1-minute interval, one test in one location produces 43,200 runs in a 30-day month.
Free-plan baseline
5 HTTP checks, 5-minute interval, one location
Production API monitoring
10 HTTP checks, 1-minute interval, one location
API and browser monitoring
10 API checks at 1 minute and 10 browser tests at 5 minutes, one location
How Datadog Synthetics billing works
At the published annually billed starting rate, 43,200 monthly API runs cost $21.60. The on-demand rate published by Datadog is $7.20 per 10,000 runs.
Datadog counts each hit from each selected location as a test run. These examples assume one location and no retries.
At the published annually billed starting rate, ten 5-minute browser tests in one location produce 86,400 runs and cost $1,036.80 per 30-day month.
USD before tax; 30-day month; annual Datadog commitment; one location; one request per API test; browser tests at no more than 25 steps. Discounts, retries, extra locations, and on-demand rates are excluded.
Source: Datadog's published Synthetic Testing & Monitoring pricing and billing FAQ. Last verified 2026-08-03. Prices and packaging can change; confirm a current quote before you buy.
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