Looking for a Distill.io Alternative?

If you're comparing page-change monitors, here's what Site Monitor offers: every check runs in the cloud, so there's nothing to install or keep open, and AI summaries in your dashboard explain what changed in plain English.

Start watching free → Explore the live demo

Free plan · 10 URLs · hourly checks · 2 AI summaries/mo · no credit card

Updated

How it works

  1. Paste a URL

    Any public page — your own site, a pricing page, a policy, a changelog.

  2. Optionally target an element

    Add a CSS selector to watch just the part of the page you care about.

  3. Get useful alerts

    Email alerts when a page changes, AI summaries of changes in your dashboard, plus uptime and recovery alerts. Slack and webhooks on paid plans.

You choose which alerts each URL sends — downtime, content changes, slow responses — and we email you when they happen.

What Site Monitor offers

  • Runs entirely in the cloud — no extension or desktop app
  • Content change detection for a whole page or one element
  • Plain-English AI summaries of what changed
  • Uptime, recovery, and response-time alerts
  • Broken-link checks and screenshot history (paid plans)
  • Public status pages and an embeddable status widget
  • A Free plan: 10 URLs, hourly checks, 2 AI summaries a month

Always-on, from any device

Because Site Monitor runs in the cloud, checks continue when your laptop is closed, and you can add or review monitors from any browser.

How to choose a website monitor

Start with what you need to know. If you only care whether a site responds, a basic uptime check is enough. If you need to know what changed on a page — a price, a policy clause, a list of dates — look for content change detection and element (CSS selector) targeting.

Then consider where checks run (in the cloud or on your own machine), how often you need them, how alerts reach you, and whether you want summaries of changes or raw diffs. Trying two tools side by side on the same URLs for a week is the most reliable way to decide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Site Monitor free?

Yes. The Free plan includes 10 cloud-checked URLs, hourly checks, and 2 AI summaries a month.

Can it watch pages behind a login?

No. Site Monitor fetches public URLs the same way a browser would. Pages that require a login, CAPTCHA, or paywall can't be read.

What is an AI change summary?

When a page changes significantly, Site Monitor uses AI to describe in plain English what was added, removed, or reworded. Summaries appear in the site's dashboard — your email alert links straight there. The Free plan includes 2 AI summaries a month; paid plans include more.

Will rotating ads, timestamps, or counters cause false alerts?

Not if you scope the watch. Add a CSS selector (for example #pricing or .event-list) and Site Monitor fingerprints only that element — everything else on the page is ignored. Whitespace-only changes never trigger an alert.

How often does Site Monitor check a page?

Free checks every hour. Paid plans check as often as every 5 minutes, and you can set the interval per URL.

Start watching your first page

Start watching free → Explore the live demo

Free plan · 10 URLs · hourly checks · 2 AI summaries/mo · no credit card

Related

Distill.io is a trademark of its respective owner. Site Monitor is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Distill.io. This page describes Site Monitor only — see Distill.io's own website for information about their product.