IncidentRelay

IncidentRelay is open-source, self-hosted software for on-call management and incident response. It is aimed at SRE and DevOps teams that need detailed alert routing and scheduling under their own operational control. The trade-off is clear: there is no licence charge, but your team must run and maintain the service.

Overview

IncidentRelay combines alert intake, responder coordination and event automation in one workflow. Routing can account for source, labels, severity and team ownership before escalation policies and team rules are applied. That makes it a better fit than a schedule-only tool for organisations dealing with noisy, multi-team monitoring environments.

Self-hosting is central rather than incidental. Deployment is documented through Docker Compose, Kubernetes with Helm, RPM packages and manual systemd installation. Production setups separate web/API and scheduler processes, so operators should plan for service administration as well as incident configuration.

Key features

Routing and response

Responders can acknowledge, resolve, silence or escalate alerts, while alert groups can be temporarily shelved. These controls give teams practical ways to reduce repeat notifications and redirect ownership without losing the underlying workflow.

Schedules and calendars

Schedules support shifts, rotations, overrides and escalation chains. Read-only CalDAV calendars and tokenized ICS feeds export on-call information to calendar software, useful when responders need schedule visibility outside the incident system.

Event orchestration

Versioned rules can enrich, group, route, suppress and automate events. Execution history records rule matches and results, providing an inspectable trail when teams tune automation or investigate why an alert was handled a certain way.

Integrations and automation

Incoming integrations cover Alertmanager, AWS SNS and CloudWatch, Grafana, Datadog, Zabbix, Sentry, LibreNMS, RMON, PagerDuty Events API v2, heartbeats and generic webhooks. Delivery options include Slack, Mattermost, Telegram, email, Discord, Microsoft Teams, outbound webhooks, voice calls and browser/PWA push.

Swagger UI and OpenAPI JSON support API-driven work. Route intake tokens connect incoming integrations, while personal API tokens support user-scoped automation. Group and team roles include viewer, editor, user_admin, responder and manager, giving administrators a defined access model.

Webhook guidance requires HTTPS by default, blocks private and special network addresses unless allowlisted, and encrypts secret headers so APIs do not return them. Those controls matter for teams exposing event intake to external systems.

Migration

Migration tools for Grafana OnCall and PagerDuty use public APIs, avoid product databases and default to dry-run mode. That approach lowers the risk of an irreversible first migration, although teams still need to validate mappings and resulting schedules.

Pricing

The IncidentRelay plan costs free, is open-source and self-hosted. There are no published seat, incident or notification quotas in this plan. It suits teams able to provide their own hosting and operations; organisations wanting a vendor-managed service or a stated support commitment should look elsewhere.

Platforms

IncidentRelay provides an API and web interface and runs on Linux in a self-hosted deployment. The documented installation choices range from Docker Compose and RPM packages to manual systemd and Kubernetes with Helm, giving infrastructure teams several ways to fit it into their environment.

Who it's for

IncidentRelay is best for SRE and DevOps groups that want ownership of alert data, integrations and runtime placement. It is particularly suitable where routing by labels or severity, multiple escalation paths and event suppression are everyday requirements. Smaller teams without capacity to operate separate web/API and scheduler processes may prefer a hosted alternative.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Open-source self-hosting avoids licence fees and lets teams control deployment location.
• Pro: Routing, rotations, escalation chains and event rules cover the full path from alert intake to response.
• Pro: Broad monitoring, notification and API integration options reduce the need for custom connectors.
• Pro: Versioned orchestration rules and execution history make automated handling reviewable.
• Con: Deployment and upkeep remain the customer’s responsibility, including production process separation.
• Con: The free plan publishes no vendor-managed service, seat allowance or support terms, so operational expectations must be set internally.

Alternatives

For a broader directory of products, see On-Call Scheduling Software and On-Call Management Software.

Choose incident.io instead if you want a freemium service with Android, iOS, macOS and web access, including a free Basic plan with native Slack or Microsoft Teams incident response, single-team on-call, a status page and essential automation.

Choose OpsKnight instead for a self-hosted AGPL-3.0-only community edition with one status page per installation.

Choose PagerDuty instead if a freemium platform with a free annual plan for five users, one on-call schedule, one escalation policy and basic chat is the priority.

PagerTree is another freemium option with a five-user, two-team free plan and three months of data retention.

TaskCall is a freemium alternative whose Starter plan adds unlimited global SMS and voice-call notifications.

MonoDuty offers a freemium free tier limited to one user, three services, five monitors, five heartbeats, one team, one schedule, five webhooks and 50 incidents per month.

Opsgenie is a freemium option with a five-user free plan and paid tiers with stated incident and retention allowances.

LinkedIn Databus is a free Apache 2.0 open-source project for teams seeking a self-hosted data platform rather than incident-response workflows.

Verdict

Choose IncidentRelay when self-hosting, open-source licensing and deep routing, scheduling and orchestration are more important than a managed service. Look elsewhere if you want the provider to run the platform or need published seat, support and usage commitments.