Best alternative to Datadog Synthetics, meet Defenso.
Datadog Synthetics is powerful but comes with a platform learning curve and a bill to match. Defenso gives you synthetic-style checks plus real security, without either.
Why teams pick Defenso over Datadog Synthetics.
Datadog Synthetics is enterprise-grade monitoring inside one of the most capable observability platforms ever built. API and browser tests, multi-step transaction checks, deep integration with traces and logs, and monitoring from dozens of global locations make it a genuinely powerful tool for large engineering organisations that already live in Datadog.
The reason smaller teams seek a Datadog Synthetics alternative is that the power comes with a platform to learn and a bill that scales fast, and none of that budget buys protection for the app you are so thoroughly observing. Defenso gives you synthetic-style uptime and response-time checks from multiple regions with pricing you can read at a glance, then adds a managed firewall, pentest, repo scanning and a compliance generator, so you get monitoring and defence without the enterprise contract or the onboarding curve.
Switching from Datadog Synthetics to Defenso.
The synthetic monitoring you relied on carries over: uptime and response-time checks confirmed from multiple regions, SSL and domain expiry alerts, and public status pages for your users. Pricing is simple enough to fit on one line rather than a usage calculator, and annual billing runs about 25% below monthly. For most sites, this is the availability signal Datadog Synthetics provided, without the platform overhead wrapped around it.
What is genuinely new is security Datadog Synthetics does not include at all. A one-line SDK turns on a managed WAF with automatic rate limits, bot detection and active deception, so malicious traffic is blocked rather than merely graphed. A monthly surface pentest and an online security scanner map your exposed surface, deep pentests run on the Max plan, and repo secret scanning catches leaked credentials. A built-in compliance generator produces the GDPR and CCPA documents auditors ask for, and a call-style phone alarm rings through Do Not Disturb.
Migration skips the platform onboarding. There is nothing to install to start monitoring, and the firewall is one line of code, so there is no agent or integration project to schedule. The free tier needs no card, so you can run Defenso beside Datadog and compare before committing.
Compare Defenso with the rest.
How to switch from Datadog Synthetics without a monitoring gap.
Migrating off Datadog Synthetics is a five-minute job, not a project. You keep Datadog Synthetics live while you set Defenso up, move your sites and alerts across, switch on the WAF and pentest Datadog Synthetics never offered, and only then cancel. Here is the exact order.
-
01
Keep Datadog Synthetics running while you set up
No rip-and-replace. Create a free Defenso account and add your sites there first, and Datadog Synthetics stays live the whole time, so there is never a monitoring gap during the move.
-
02
Add your sites and endpoints
Point Defenso at the same URLs, domains and API endpoints you watch in Datadog Synthetics. Uptime checks, SSL and domain-expiry monitoring and a public status page turn on the moment a site is added: no agent to install, no DNS change.
-
03
Wire up the alerts you already use
Connect email, Slack, Discord, Telegram or a signed webhook, and install the Defenso Alerts phone app. The call-style Alarm level rings through silent mode and Do Not Disturb for the 3am outage you cannot sleep through, something Datadog Synthetics cannot do.
-
04
Turn on the security Datadog Synthetics does not have
This is the real upgrade: a managed WAF in one SDK line, a scheduled pentest that grades your site A–F, repo and secret scanning, and active deception, all in the same account, at no extra vendor. Monitoring and security stop being two bills.
-
05
Run both for a cycle, then cancel Datadog Synthetics
Watch the two side by side for a billing cycle. Once you trust the Defenso alerts and grades, cancel Datadog Synthetics and consolidate. Most teams find they were paying for uptime and still had no security layer at all.
Frequently asked questions.
Everything people ask before they switch from Datadog Synthetics. Still unsure? We are one message away.
For teams that want monitoring plus security without enterprise complexity, yes. Defenso does synthetic-style uptime and response-time checks from multiple regions with simple pricing, and adds a managed firewall, pentest, repo scanning and a compliance generator Datadog Synthetics does not include.
No, and it does not try to. Datadog is a full observability suite with traces, logs and deep APM. Defenso focuses on uptime and response-time monitoring plus real security. If you only used Datadog for synthetics and want protection too, Defenso is the leaner fit.
Yes. Defenso uses clear per-site plans with a free tier that needs no card, rather than usage-based billing that scales with test volume and locations. Yearly billing is about 25% below monthly, and there are no surprise overage lines.
Yes. There is nothing to install to start monitoring, and the firewall is a single line of SDK code, so there is no agent or integration project. Run Defenso alongside Datadog, confirm the checks, and switch on your own schedule.
Get more than monitoring, for free.
No card, no install. Add a site and get uptime, a managed firewall, a pentest and a phone alarm in one account.