changedetection.io

What changedetection.io does

changedetection.io watches web pages and alerts you when they change. The hosted service runs the checks for you in the cloud, so there is nothing to install, and it comes from the official provider of the open-source changedetection.io project. Filters such as trigger text, CSS/xPath rules and ignore text narrow a watch to the part of a page that matters.

What you pay

There is one hosted plan, the Easy Subscription, at USD 8.99 a month, which you can cancel at any time. It includes up to 5,000 URL watches, one real Chrome browser for JavaScript pages, European, USA and Tor proxy locations, and over 85 notification types. No annual plan is shown, and the home page does not state taxes or refund terms.

Limits that change the choice

Re-checks start at about every 5 minutes per browser runner, and more Chrome browsers can be added. Because the 5-minute figure is per runner, how many of the 5,000 watches can run that often depends on how many browsers you add, and their price is not shown. No monthly check allowance is published.

Alerts

Alerts can go to Discord, Slack, Telegram, Rocket.Chat, email, Matrix, NTFY, Office 365 and other services, and the page promises unlimited alerts.

What the documentation leaves open

The home page does not say how long change history is kept, how many users can share an account, what extra browsers cost, or which taxes and refund terms apply. Read the terms of service before paying.

When to compare alternatives

Distill publishes monitors, monthly cloud checks and minimum intervals for each plan, which makes costs easier to predict; its Starter plan costs USD 15 a month for 50 monitors and 30,000 cloud checks. Visualping's Business plans include five or more users and Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Sheets alerts, which suits a team.

Before you buy

Count the pages and the interval each needs. If many pages need short intervals or rely on JavaScript, ask the provider how many browser runners that takes and what each costs. The monthly plan can be cancelled at any time, so a first month on your real pages is a low-cost test.