For modern engineering, SRE, and IT teams, managing on-call rotations is critical for maintaining service reliability and responding quickly to incidents. Ineffective on-call management can lead to slower mean time to resolution (MTTR), team burnout, and significant business disruption [5]. The right on-call software automates alerting, scheduling, and escalations, empowering teams to resolve issues faster. This article compares the best on-call software options to help you choose the right tool for improving your incident response process.
What Makes Great On-Call Software? Key Features to Look For
Not all on-call tools are created equal. The best platforms offer a comprehensive solution for managing the entire on-call lifecycle, moving beyond simple paging. When evaluating options, teams should consider these core features.
Flexible On-Call Scheduling
- Schedules must support complex rotations, including daily, weekly, and custom handoffs.
- Key features include time-zone awareness, business hours, and simple overrides for vacations or sick days.
- Robust scheduling ensures there are no coverage gaps, keeping your services protected around the clock. Rootly offers these advanced scheduling capabilities to provide full coverage.
Reliable Alerting and Escalation Policies
- Alerts must be reliable, with multi-channel notifications (SMS, voice calls, push notifications, Slack) to ensure they are never missed.
- Escalation policies are crucial for automatically routing an unacknowledged alert to the next person or team, preventing alert fatigue and ensuring accountability.
- Platforms like Rootly centralize schedules and escalation logic to eliminate guesswork during an active incident.
Deep Integration and Automation
- On-call software must integrate with your existing toolchain, including monitoring tools (Datadog, Sentry), chat platforms (Slack), and ticketing systems (Jira).
- Automation can handle repetitive incident tasks like creating channels, notifying stakeholders, or attaching runbooks. This frees up responders to focus on resolution.
- Rootly's workflows can automate the entire incident response process, from alert to resolution.
Centralized Incident Management
- The most effective on-call tools are part of a larger incident management platform. This trend toward unified platforms is growing as organizations seek to reduce alert noise and improve efficiency [6].
- A centralized approach allows teams to manage everything from the initial alert to the final retrospective in one place.
- Look for features like a central incident timeline, role assignments, and post-incident analytics to drive continuous improvement.
The Best On-Call Software for Teams in 2026
The "best" on-call tool depends on your team's specific needs, size, and workflow; there's no single solution that fits all scenarios [3]. Here is a selection of the top solutions available today.
1. Rootly
Rootly is a comprehensive incident management platform with a powerful, integrated on-call solution. It is designed to unify on-call schedules and escalations with automated incident response workflows. Its deep Slack integration allows teams to manage schedules, acknowledge alerts, and run entire incidents without leaving their chat app. Rootly is ideal for teams looking to mature their reliability practices and automate the full incident lifecycle [2].
2. PagerDuty
PagerDuty is one of the most established platforms for on-call management and incident response. Its strengths lie in real-time alerting, an extensive library of integrations, and enterprise-grade features. PagerDuty is a strong choice for large organizations with complex needs and established legacy systems. However, its extensive feature set can come with a higher price point, which may be a consideration for smaller teams.
3. Opsgenie
Opsgenie, an Atlassian product, is known for its robust on-call scheduling and alerting capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with the Atlassian ecosystem, particularly Jira and Jira Service Management. This makes it a great option for teams already heavily invested in Atlassian's suite of products [5]. The main tradeoff is that this deep integration can create vendor lock-in, making it less flexible for teams with a more diverse toolset.
4. Better Stack
Better Stack is a modern platform that combines incident management with logging and monitoring into a single solution. With a developer-friendly approach and a visually appealing interface, it offers a good all-in-one package for teams seeking integrated observability and on-call management [7]. The caveat is that while an all-in-one solution is convenient, its individual components might not offer the same depth as dedicated, best-of-breed tools.
5. Upstat
Upstat is a tool focused on flexible on-call scheduling and incident response. It features a visual timeline for scheduling, timezone-aware shifts, and clear escalation paths [4]. Upstat aims to simplify scheduling and reduce engineer burnout to improve overall operational health. Its focused approach means it may not have the same end-to-end automation capabilities as more comprehensive incident management platforms.
Comparison Table of Top On-Call Tools
Feature
Rootly
PagerDuty
Opsgenie
Better Stack
On-Call Scheduling
Advanced & Flexible
Advanced
Advanced
Standard
Escalation Policies
Multi-level & Flexible
Multi-level
Flexible
Standard
Workflow Automation
Native & Extensive
Extensive
Basic
Basic
Slack Integration
Deeply Integrated
Standard
Standard
Standard
Incident Management
All-in-one platform
Integrated
Integrated
All-in-one platform
Best For
Teams needing automation
Enterprise needs
Atlassian users
Integrated observability
How to Choose the Right On-Call Software
Making an informed decision requires evaluating your team's unique context.
Evaluate Your Team's Scale and Workflow
Consider your team's size, technical maturity, and existing processes. Different business types and sizes have different needs, from small startups to large enterprises [1]. The goal is to find a tool that fits your current workflow and can scale as your team grows.
Prioritize Integration with Your Critical Tools
The software must connect seamlessly with the tools your team uses daily. Map out your critical systems—monitoring, communication, and project management—and check for native integrations to ensure a smooth, consolidated workflow.
Look Beyond Alerting to the Full Incident Lifecycle
The most value comes from platforms that support the entire incident lifecycle, not just on-call alerting. An incident management platform showdown can highlight the benefits of a complete solution. Comprehensive platforms include tools for triage, collaboration, and learning through retrospectives, which are vital for long-term reliability.
Conclusion: Achieve Faster Resolution with the Right On-Call Partner
Selecting the right on-call software is a strategic decision that directly impacts your team's ability to respond to incidents quickly and effectively. Key features like flexible scheduling, reliable escalations, and deep automation are essential for minimizing downtime and reducing engineer toil.
For teams that need to move beyond basic on-call management, Rootly offers a fully automated, end-to-end incident response process. By connecting on-call alerting directly to powerful incident workflows in Slack, Rootly empowers teams to resolve issues faster than ever.
Ready to streamline your on-call management and achieve faster resolution? Get started with Rootly.