AI overview
Splunk On-Call is a capable on-call and paging tool, but it is the former VictorOps, now inside Splunk and Cisco, sold per user through enterprise contracts, with an older UI and no public roadmap. Pagerly is the modern replacement for teams that live in Slack. It imports your rotations, keeps @oncall in sync, pages by phone and SMS, and bills per team instead of per seat. Most teams can switch the same day.
At a glance
| Pagerly | Splunk On-Call | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Actively developed, independent | Part of Splunk and Cisco, standalone future unclear |
| Where your team works | Inside Slack and Microsoft Teams | Separate web console and mobile app |
| Pricing model | Per team, unlimited users | Per user, usually through a sales contract |
| Typical cost, 30 engineers | $39 + $120 paging = $159 / month | About $750 / month (approximate) |
| Migration path | Import rotations, recreate escalation policies with guidance | Not applicable, this is the tool you are leaving |
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours to days |
Feature comparison
| Capability | Pagerly | Splunk On-Call |
|---|---|---|
| On-call scheduling | ||
| Rotations and escalation policies | Yes | Yes |
| Overrides and shift swaps | Yes | Yes |
| Import schedules from PagerDuty and Opsgenie | Yes | No |
| Slack @oncall user group kept in sync automaticallySplunk On-Call posts alerts to Slack but does not update a user group as shifts change | Yes | No |
| Alerting and paging | ||
| Phone, SMS and push paging | Yes | Yes |
| Alert routing and integrations | Datadog, Grafana, Sentry, AWS and 50+ sources | Yes |
| Splunk Observability integrationPagerly takes Splunk alerts over webhook; the native tie-in is Splunk's | Partial | Yes |
| Alert-driven Slack workflow | Yes | Partial |
| Incident response | ||
| Incident channels, roles and timeline in Slack | Yes | Partial |
| AI SRE agent that investigates and proposes a fix | Yes | No |
| AI-written post-mortems | Yes | No |
| Public status page | Yes | Separate product |
| Platform | ||
| Jira, Linear and Asana ticket sync | Yes | Jira |
| REST API, MCP server and Terraform | Yes | REST API |
| Published, self-serve pricing | Yes | No |
| Clear standalone roadmap | Yes | No |
Pricing
Pagerly
Per team, unlimited users
| Basic | $19 / team / month |
|---|---|
| Starter | $39 / team / month |
| Phone & SMS paging | $4 / user / month, optional |
| Enterprise | Custom |
Splunk On-Call
Per user
| Starter | ~$9 / user / monthApproximate; Splunk sells On-Call through sales, verify current rates |
|---|---|
| Growth | ~$25 / user / monthApproximate; Splunk sells On-Call through sales, verify current rates |
| Enterprise | CustomQuoted per contract |
Published list prices, approximate. Verify on the vendor's site.
Cost calculator
Savings calculator
What would Splunk On-Call cost your team?
Splunk On-Call lists at about $25/user/month, per seat. Pagerly is $39 per team plus $4 per user for paging - same workflows, inside Slack.
That's not a discount - that's how much extra teams pay for the same workflows. Pagerly's side uses published pricing: $39 per team per month on Starter, plus $4 per user per month for paging by call. Splunk On-Call is sold per user through sales, so $25 per user per month is an assumption for a mid-tier enterprise contract, not a list price. Pagerly's side uses Starter at $39 per team plus $4 per user for phone paging.
Why teams look for a Splunk On-Call alternative
Splunk On-Call is the former VictorOps. It came to Splunk through acquisition, and Splunk now sits inside Cisco. The product still pages reliably, but it is sold per user through enterprise contracts, its interface shows its age, and nobody outside Splunk can say with confidence where a standalone on-call product sits in the roadmap.
For a team that already lives in Slack, that adds up to a pager that sits beside your workflow instead of inside it. Pagerly is built the other way round: on-call, paging and incidents run in Slack, billed per team.
What teams hit with Splunk On-Call
- Contract-led pricing. There is no self-serve price to check. Cost is negotiated, and it grows with every engineer added to a rotation.
- An older interface. Scheduling and escalation work, but the console feels dated next to current tools, and responders need to learn it.
- A manual
@oncallgroup. Alerts reach Slack, but someone still edits the user group at each handover. - Incident work happens elsewhere. Channels, roles and timelines are not the centre of the product, and there is no AI investigation or post-mortem drafting.
- An uncertain future. Standalone products inside large platforms tend to become features. That is a risk worth pricing in before you renew.
How to migrate from Splunk On-Call to Pagerly
- Add Pagerly to Slack. One OAuth click, no console to provision.
- Recreate your rotations. Pagerly imports PagerDuty and Opsgenie schedules directly; for Splunk On-Call you enter the rotations once per team, which takes minutes.
- Rebuild escalation policies. Guided prompts walk you through the levels and timeouts you use today.
- Point alert sources at Pagerly. Datadog, Grafana, Sentry, CloudWatch and Splunk Observability connect over webhooks. Move them one at a time for a safe overlap.
- Turn on paging and the
@oncallgroup. Enable phone and SMS for people who carry the pager, then retire Splunk On-Call.
Most teams finish within a day.
When Splunk On-Call is the better choice
Be honest about the fit:
- You are all-in on Splunk Observability. The native integration between detection and paging is tighter than a webhook, and one vendor may matter to you.
- You already have an enterprise contract in place. If the spend is committed and procurement is done, switching has a real cost.
- You need Splunk-level compliance. If your auditors require controls and attestations from the Splunk and Cisco estate, stay inside it.
If none of those describe you, the extra console is cost without a matching benefit.
Which should you choose?
| If you are… | Choose |
|---|---|
| A Slack-first team tired of a legacy pager | Pagerly - rotations in Slack, live today |
| Growing headcount and tired of per-seat bills | Pagerly - $39 per team, unlimited users |
Wanting @oncall to update itself |
Pagerly - user group sync built in |
| Running incidents, not just alerts | Pagerly - channels, roles, AI investigation and post-mortems |
| Standardised on Splunk Observability with a contract in place | Splunk On-Call |
Frequently asked questions
Is Splunk On-Call the same as VictorOps?
Yes. Splunk On-Call is VictorOps after the Splunk acquisition, and Splunk is now part of Cisco. The product has kept its on-call, escalation and paging core under the new name.
Is Pagerly a good Splunk On-Call alternative?
Yes, if your team works in Slack. Pagerly covers rotations, escalation policies, phone and SMS paging, incident channels, AI investigation and post-mortems, billed per team.
Can I import my Splunk On-Call schedules?
Pagerly imports PagerDuty and Opsgenie schedules directly. For Splunk On-Call you recreate the rotations in Pagerly, which takes minutes per team, and you rebuild escalation policies with guided prompts.
How long does the migration take?
Most teams install, set up rotations and go live in a day. Run both tools side by side for a week or two, move alert sources over one at a time, then retire Splunk On-Call.
Does Pagerly charge per user?
No. Plans are flat per team, $19 per month on Basic and $39 on Starter, with unlimited users and incidents. Phone and SMS paging is an optional $4 per user per month.
How much does Splunk On-Call cost?
Splunk sells On-Call through sales, so the price depends on your contract. Treat any per-user figure as approximate and confirm current rates with Splunk. A 30-person rotation at about $25 per user comes to roughly $750 a month.
Does Pagerly work with Splunk Observability?
Pagerly receives alerts from Splunk Observability over webhook and pages the on-call engineer. The native, deeper tie-in remains a strength of Splunk On-Call.
Updated 16 October 2026