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WelcoYour alerts, by text.

An OnPage alternative for Canadian MSPs when a plain text is enough

Welco is an OnPage alternative for Canadian MSPs and IT teams. Every tech gets client alerts as ordinary texts, with no paid seat and no app. Each client's monitor emails your Welco address, and the tech who owns that client gets the text. OnPage is the better pick if alerts must keep sounding until someone reads them.

Text my techs client alertsBook a demo

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  • No seat to buy for each tech
  • No app on any phone
  • One rule per client

Works by email with

  • LibreNMS
  • PRTG
  • Zabbix

Compared with

  • OnPage

Published:

Setting up alerts with OnPage takes 4 steps. With Welco it takes 4.

With OnPage

  1. Buy a seat for each tech
  2. Install the OnPage app on every phone
  3. Set up groups and persistent alerts
  4. Connect each tool to OnPage

With Welco

  1. No seats to count
  2. Techs confirm by text, no app
  3. One rule per client or sender
  4. Alerts arrive as normal texts
Animation: a OnPage setup and a Welco setup are built side by side.
  • OnPage sells critical alert management, with alerts that persist until they are read.
  • OnPage lists US$13.99 per user a month, billed yearly, with Enterprise tiers at US$22.99 and US$28.99 (October 2026).
  • Welco sends one text per alert to each phone. No seats, no app, no persistent ringing.
  • Small MSPs and IT teams that route by client, from Calgary to Moncton, are the best fit for Welco.

Who should pick OnPage, and who should pick Welco

OnPage is designed for alerts that must not be ignored. Welco is designed for alerts a plain text can carry. Most teams know which kind they have.

  • Pick OnPage: alerts must keep sounding

    OnPage alerts persist until they are read. A Welco text arrives once, like any other text.

  • Pick OnPage: you need proof someone saw it

    Welco shows whether the text was delivered, not whether a person read it.

  • Pick OnPage: alerts must pass to a backup tech

    Welco has no escalation chain, so an unread alert stays with the first person.

  • Pick Welco: a lock-screen text gets your tech moving

    That is most server, network and UPS alerts at a small MSP or in-house IT team.

  • Pick Welco: your headcount changes every season

    Every new hire, co-op student, contractor or weekend helper needs a seat in a per-user tool. In Welco, a new tech accepts an invite, joins with their own phone and replies YES.

  • Pick Welco: your monitors already email

    LibreNMS, PRTG and Zabbix can send to your Welco address with no plug-in and no connector to maintain.

OnPage vs Welco in one view

OnPage prices are as listed on onpage.com in October 2026; check the page for current plans. All prices are in US dollars (USD). Customers in Canada pay in US dollars too. Every other alerting tool matchup is one click away.

Price

OnPage
US$13.99 per user a month, billed yearly. Enterprise Silver US$22.99 and Gold US$28.99
Welco
No seat fees at all. See Welco pricing

How an alert behaves

OnPage
Persistent: it keeps alerting until it is read
Welco
One text to each phone, once per alert

On the phone

OnPage
An app on each phone
Welco
The phone's own text messages

Main markets

OnPage
Healthcare, IT and managed service providers
Welco
IT, plant, building and voicemail alerts

How alerts get in

OnPage
Integrations and partner pages, such as Metasys
Welco
Any alert email from any system

Sources: OnPage pricing (read Oct 5, 2026); OnPage home page (read Oct 5, 2026)

Client alerts with seats, then with Welco

For a small MSP, the change shows up on the bill, with no per-seat US-dollar line, and on every tech's phone.

Per-seat alerting

  • A paid seat for each tech, contractor and weekend helper.
  • An alerting app installed and logged in on every phone.
  • Each monitoring tool connected on its own.
  • The same seat math as SIGNL4 per-user plans and PagerDuty seat fees.

Client alerts on Welco

  • No seat fees, so a new tech adds no monthly charge.
  • Texts in the phone's built-in messages, readable without a login.
  • Every client's monitor emails one Welco address.
  • With a dedicated number, client alerts come from one number your techs saved.

A client firewall goes quiet after midnight

An Ontario MSP watches dozens of client networks. When one firewall stops answering, only the tech who looks after that client needs to know.

Alert email from librenms@noc.example.ca, subject “[ALERT] Device Down - client3-fw”. Welco trims it to one text of 94 characters: “Welco: [client3-fw] Device down, no ping reply for 5 min at 12:40 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [client3-fw] Device down, no ping reply for 5 min at 12:40 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

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Animation: the alert email "[ALERT] Device Down - client3-fw" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [client3-fw] Device down, no ping reply for 5 min at 12:40 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

A rule on the hostname sends client 3 to its own tech. See how LibreNMS text alerts are set up.

Route one client's alerts to your phone

Verify your business, join with your own cellphone and point one monitor at Welco.

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

Text my techs client alertsBook a demo

Where Welco fits as an OnPage alternative

Welco fits teams where a text on the lock screen is enough to get a tech moving.

Set up client-by-client alerts in 15 minutes

Start with one client. Copy the rule for the next client when the first one works.

  1. Open a Welco account

    Sign up and verify your business. Your Welco address is the one place all client alerts will go.

  2. Invite your techs

    Email each tech an invite. They join with their own cellphone number and reply YES, so no tech gets client alerts by surprise.

  3. Approve the monitoring sender

    Approve the address your monitor sends from, such as your LibreNMS or PRTG server. Unknown senders are refused.

  4. Write a rule for the first client

    Match the client's hostname prefix or site name and pick the tech who owns it. Add a time window if nights belong to someone else.

  5. Send a test and read the report

    Trigger a test alert from the monitor. Check the delivery report to confirm the text reached the phone.

Frequently asked questions

Does Welco keep alerting until someone reads the text?

No. Welco sends one text per alert to each phone, and that text behaves like any other message. It doesn't repeat or override silent mode. If your alerts must keep sounding until read, OnPage's persistent alerts are designed for that, and Welco is not a fit.

Do my techs need to install anything to get Welco texts?

No. Welco texts land in the phone's built-in messages, so there is no app and no login for techs. Each tech replies YES once to confirm the number. After that, client alerts arrive like a normal text starting with Welco.

How does Welco pricing compare with OnPage's per-user plans for a Canadian MSP?

OnPage lists US$13.99 per user a month on annual billing, as of October 2026, so cost rises with each tech. Welco has no seat fees, no hardware and no setup fee, and its plans are in US dollars too. A 7-day trial with 15 credits lets you run one client through it before you choose from Welco pricing.

Can one Welco account handle alerts for many MSP clients across Canada?

Yes. Point every client's monitor at your Welco address and use rules to sort them. Match on the sender, a hostname or a word in the subject, then pick the tech. You can add extra time windows for clients whose nights are covered by someone else.

Can I try Welco alongside OnPage before moving my techs?

Yes. Add your Welco address to a monitor that already notifies OnPage, so both get the same alert. Compare what your techs see for a week or two. Keep OnPage for clients that need persistent alerts, and move the rest when you are ready.

What happens when a tech replies to a client alert text?

The reply goes back by email to the address that sent the alert, such as your monitoring server's mailbox. It tells the team who answered. It doesn't acknowledge the alert, stop other texts or close a ticket.

Give every tech client alerts without buying seats

One Welco address, one rule per client, and the right tech gets the text.

Text my techs client alertsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing