Atlassian is shutting down OpsGenie, and you are likely being encouraged to migrate to Jira Service Management (JSM).
In a previous post, I reviewed JSM’s incident management capabilities. It offers dual alert control, rich Slack actions, bi-directional Jira sync, postmortem templates, and more.
But you’re here looking for alternatives, probably for a reason. Maybe you find the interface too complex. Or you believe status pages shouldn’t cost extra.
This blog post presents 5 better JSM alternatives for incident management. I have also included a detailed checklist to help you look at the finer details.
This isn’t just another listicle. I personally tested each tool. I triaged incidents, started war rooms, and evaluated the full incident lifecycle.
My goal is to help you find the right JSM alternative.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
5 Better Jira Service Management (JSM) Alternatives for Incident Management
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|
| Spike | Teams wanting straightforward, cost-effective incident management with powerful automation | $7/user/month |
| PagerDuty | Organizations needing enterprise-grade incident management with ML-based noise reduction | $25/user/month |
| Incident.io | Teams operating primarily in Slack or Teams who want deep customization | $19 base + $12/on-call user/month |
| Squadcast | Reliability engineering teams needing advanced alert routing with machine learning | $12/user/month |
| Zenduty | Teams wanting structured workflows with task templates and SLA tracking | $6/user/month |
1. Spike
Spike focuses on what most teams actually need: fast setup, clear workflows, and fair pricing. It covers the full incident lifecycle without the complexity or cost overhead you find in JSM.
Why Choose Spike Over JSM for Incident Management
- Unlike JSM, Spike lets you acknowledge or resolve incidents by replying to alert emails with
#ackor#res. JSM email alerts only show a button to view the alert. You have to click through and leave your inbox. - Spike includes built-in status pages on all plans with no subscriber limits or hidden fees. You can create both public and private pages with custom branding and domain hosting. JSM requires you to pay extra for Statuspage.io integration at $29-109/month.
- Spike uses relative timing in escalation policies. You just set “escalate after X minutes” for each step. JSM makes you calculate the delay time from the top of your policy, which means more mental math.
- Spike offers ready-to-use templates for escalation policies, on-call schedules, and alert rules. JSM forces you to build everything from scratch, which takes more time during initial setup.
Limitations
Spike doesn’t have native Zoom integration. You can use Google Meet for war rooms with one-click creation. It lacks bi-directional Jira sync, though you get separate incoming and outgoing Jira integrations.
Starting Price: $7/user/month
Best For
Teams that want straightforward, cost-effective incident management with powerful automation. Perfect for organizations that need a quick setup without complexity.
Hear what Steven Ryder, former Engineering Manager at Virtually Human, said about Spike
With OpsGenie shutting down, businesses are switching to Spike with 50% off. Learn more →
2. PagerDuty
PagerDuty is an enterprise-grade incident management platform built for teams that need comprehensive capabilities with deep integrations and advanced automation.
Why Choose PagerDuty Over JSM for Incident Management
- PagerDuty uses AIOps with machine learning to find patterns and group related incidents automatically. JSM relies on manually setting up Notification Policies and Alert Policies, which requires more configuration work.
- You get service-based on-call handoff notifications. You can control which services trigger shift alerts and keep non-critical ones quiet. JSM sends handoff notifications for all services regardless of priority.
- PagerDuty separates logs into alerts, status updates, timeline, automation actions, past incidents, and related incidents. This helps you find specific information faster during post-incident reviews. JSM uses a unified activity log for everything.
- PagerDuty supports custom incident types with configurable incident fields. You can create different types for database failures, API outages, or security incidents. JSM doesn’t offer this level of incident categorization.
Limitations
PagerDuty doesn’t offer auto-acknowledge functionality. There’s no option to add wait time in escalation policies for auto-resolvable incidents. The ML-based noise reduction costs extra at $799 per month. Status pages come with subscriber restrictions.
Starting Price: $25/user/month
Best For
Organizations that need enterprise-grade incident management with ML-based alert grouping. Good fit for teams who want service-specific on-call handoff notifications and can afford the higher price.
3. Incident.io
Incident.io is a chat-native incident management platform built for teams that operate primarily in Slack and Microsoft Teams. It offers deep customization and workflow automation.
Why Choose Incident.io Over JSM for Incident Management
- Incident.io lets you hold alerts in triage state until a responder declares them incidents. This reduces noise by preventing every alert from triggering full escalation immediately. JSM doesn’t have this feature.
- Escalation policies use an intuitive flowchart style with if-else conditions. JSM uses a list-based approach. Incident.io makes it easier to visualize complex routing logic with visual branches.
- Incident.io has a separate “Improve” section with tabs for flows, follow-ups, debriefs, and postmortems. This structures the entire post-incident process with assigned tasks and deadlines. JSM only offers postmortem templates without structured workflows.
- You can type overrides in plain language in Incident.io, like “Daman today from 6 pm to 10 pm.” The system understands and creates the override. JSM requires you to fill in form fields manually.
Limitations
Status pages are severely limited on lower plans, with only one external page until the Enterprise tier. There’s no manual ticket creation button for quick Jira or Linear tickets. The initial setup can be complex with many options.
Starting Price: $19 base + $12/on-call user/month
Best For
Teams that live in Slack or Microsoft Teams and want extensive customization options. Good fit for organizations that don’t mind a complex setup in exchange for powerful workflow automation.
4. Squadcast
Squadcast is an incident management platform designed for reliability engineering teams. It offers advanced alert routing with machine learning capabilities and intelligent noise reduction.
Why Choose Squadcast Over JSM for Incident Management
- Squadcast uses real-time machine learning to group related alerts automatically. JSM requires manual setup through Notification Policies. Squadcast’s ML approach adapts to your alert patterns without constant configuration.
- Squadcast lets you set working hours for each service individually. This gives you more granular control over how alerts get routed during business and off-hours. JSM handles time-based routing through general rules that apply across services.
- Squadcast offers an acknowledge timeout feature. If someone acknowledges an alert but doesn’t resolve it, Squadcast can automatically re-escalate after 10 minutes. JSM lacks this feature, so incidents can get stuck with unresponsive team members.
- Squadcast has a Global Event Ruleset that acts as a central webhook. All alerts reach one place and get sorted to different services based on the payload. JSM requires separate webhooks for each integration, which becomes complex with multiple services.
Limitations
Squadcast does not offer native Google Meet or Zoom integration for war rooms. You must manually add links. There’s no option to trigger test alerts to check if your configuration works correctly.
Starting Price: $12/user/month
Best For
Reliability engineering teams that need advanced alert routing with machine learning capabilities. Good fit for organizations that value detailed workflow automation and structured post-incident analysis.
5. Zenduty
Zenduty is an incident management platform focused on structured workflows and stakeholder communication. It offers detailed task management and SLA tracking alongside core incident management features.
Why Choose Zenduty Over JSM for Incident Management
- Zenduty has a dedicated “Stakeholders” tab on every incident where you can add stakeholders, draft messages, and send updates directly throughout the incident lifecycle. JSM only offers a “Notify Stakeholders” button after incident resolution.
- Escalation policies have a “Move to next rule if no user is found” option. This prevents policies from getting stuck if you forget to add someone. JSM doesn’t offer this safety feature.
- Zenduty lets you create custom postmortem fields and templates, then generate postmortem reports with AI. JSM offers postmortem templates on Premium and Enterprise plans, but without AI assistance or custom field creation.
- You can add task templates and SLA policies to each service. Task templates work like checklists for new team members. JSM doesn’t offer service-specific task templates or built-in SLA tracking.
Limitations
Zenduty doesn’t include a built-in status page. You need to pay extra for Atlassian’s Statuspage.io integration. Workflow triggers only support “incident created”, which limits automation options. The escalation policy repetition delay is fixed at one minute, which is too short for many teams.
Starting Price: $6/user/month
Best For
Teams that need structured incident response with task templates and SLA tracking. Good fit for organizations that want comprehensive stakeholder communication tools and AI-powered postmortems.
Incident Management Checklist: How Each Tool Stacks Up
Though we’ve covered the incident management capabilities of each tool in depth, some finer details can make a real difference in your daily operations. This checklist breaks down those key specifics for you.
| Checklist Item | JSM | Spike | PagerDuty | Incident.io | Squadcast | Zenduty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge/resolve from chat apps | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Time-based routing rules | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Auto-resolve incidents when system is healthy | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Bi-directional Jira sync | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Built-in postmortem templates | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Built-in status pages with no extra cost | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Acknowledgment timeout with auto re-alerting | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| ML-based noise reduction | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Comments on on-call overrides for context | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Trigger incidents from incoming emails | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Acknowledge/resolve incidents from email | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Side-by-side calendar preview for schedules | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Export on-call schedules (ICS file) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hold alerts in a ‘triage’ state before creating an incident | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Activity logs for on-call schedule changes | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Score (out of 15) | 8 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
Final Thoughts
The OpsGenie shutdown forces you to make a choice. Sticking with Atlassian’s path by moving to JSM is one option. It feels familiar, but it also means inheriting its limitations.
Each JSM alternative offers something different. PagerDuty provides enterprise-grade capabilities with ML-based noise reduction. Incident.io brings deep Slack integration with extensive customization. Squadcast offers advanced alert routing with machine learning. Zenduty focuses on structured processes and stakeholder management.
However, most teams need a balance of powerful features and simplicity. The checklist reveals that Spike delivers comprehensive incident management capabilities without complexity or hidden costs.
OpsGenie will shut down completely by April 2027. Now is the time to test your options and migrate on your own terms. This gives you control over the transition instead of rushing at the last minute.
For teams wanting effective incident management without breaking the budget or overwhelming workflows, Spike is worth a look.