Head-to-head
incident.io vs Rootly: which one in 2026?
incident.io is an incident response and on-call platform from Pineapple Technology Ltd. that runs inside Slack and Microsoft Teams, and Rootly is a similar platform from Rootly, Inc. that adds Google Chat and an AI SRE agent. incident.io has a free tier; Rootly bills each module per user.
Verdict
Rootly sits above incident.io on this site because its AI SRE and Google Chat support go further than incident.io's alert-noise features. incident.io is the easier first purchase, since the free tier and a $15 annual seat remove procurement friction. Rootly's modules stack, so Incident Response plus On-Call is $40 per user monthly before AI SRE. Neither page set stated a hosting region, so ask for one in writing.
incident.io and Rootly side by side
| incident.io | Rootly | |
|---|---|---|
| Price entry | $15 per user per month for Team, billed annually | $20 per user per month for Incident Response |
| Free entry point | A free Basic plan covers incident response in Slack or Teams, single-team on-call, a status page and essential automation. | No free plan is listed. A trial runs typically two weeks, according to the pricing FAQ. |
| Paid pricing | Team is $19 per user monthly or $15 annually, Pro is $25, and on-call adds $10 on Team or $20 on Pro. | Incident Response is $20 per user monthly and On-Call another $20. AI SRE is quote-only and requires Incident Response. |
| Chat platforms | Slack and Microsoft Teams, with PagerDuty and Opsgenie migration tools that let you dual-run before switching. | Slack, Teams and Google Chat, with an AI agent in Incident Response that works across all three chat tools. |
| AI features | AI alert intelligence and automated alert naming to cut noise. Terms say AI output may be inaccurate and the customer reviews it. | AI scribe, retrospectives, AI Timelines (early access per the 5 Nov 2026 changelog) and AI SRE, which proposes root cause and draft pull requests. |
| Postmortems | A post-mortem editor on all plans, with Pro adding custom post-incident processes and multiple post-mortem documents. | Retrospectives come with an AI scribe in Incident Response. Insights, workflows and a catalog are included at the same price. |
| Security statements | SOC 2 Type I and II and GDPR compliance, AES-256 encryption, annual penetration tests and HIPAA listed on the pricing table. | EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework participation and a HIPAA statement. SOC 2, ISO 27001 and encryption were not found in the cached security page. |
| AI data handling | Whether customer data trains models, and the hosting region, are not stated on the pages opened. | Data sent to AI providers is stated as neither stored nor used for training by them. Enterprise can bring its own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key. |
| Enterprise terms | Custom proposal with a dedicated customer success manager, advanced access control, multiple environments and a 99.99% uptime SLA. | Custom volume pricing with SCIM, audit logs, unlimited schedules, custom data retention and 24/7 priority support. |
Where each one wins
incident.io wins on
- Free Basic plan with single-team on-call and a status page, so a small team can start without a quote
- SOC 2 Type I and II and AES-256 encryption are stated on its security page
- Published tiers down to $15 per user annually, plus migration tools for PagerDuty and Opsgenie
Rootly wins on
- AI SRE proposes probable root cause and draft pull requests, with Claude and Codex integrations
- Works in Google Chat as well as Slack and Teams, with a stated rule that AI providers do not train on sent data
- Status pages, insights, workflows and a catalog are included in the base Incident Response price
Which to pick
Pick incident.io if
You want to start free, need Slack or Teams response with a clear per-seat ladder, and want a stated SOC 2 report before procurement review.
Pick Rootly if
Your team uses Google Chat, wants an AI agent that suggests root cause and fixes, or needs bring-your-own AI keys and custom retention on Enterprise.
Each tool in context: incident.io, Rootly, and the full Best AI Incident Management Software in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free version of incident.io or Rootly?
incident.io has a free Basic plan with incident response, single-team on-call and a status page. Rootly lists no free plan, only a trial that typically lasts two weeks per its pricing FAQ. For a small team that wants to run real incidents before paying, incident.io is the one that allows it.
How much does on-call cost on incident.io versus Rootly?
As of November 2026, incident.io adds $10 per user monthly on the Team plan and $20 on Pro, and also sells On-call only at $20. Rootly's On-Call is $20 per user monthly and is billed separately from Incident Response. Compare against your seat count, since all of these prices are per user.
Does Rootly's AI send my incident data to model providers?
Rootly's privacy policy says data sent to AI providers is neither stored nor used for training by those providers. The Enterprise plan lets you bring your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key. incident.io's pages opened did not say whether customer data trains models, so ask its sales team directly.
Can I migrate from PagerDuty or Opsgenie to incident.io?
incident.io's on-call page describes migration tools that import schedules and escalation paths from existing paging tools, with a dual-run period before a full switch. Rootly's pages opened did not describe a comparable importer, so check with Rootly if you are moving off another paging tool.