The changedetection.io alternative for watching whole sites
From a list of watches to the whole site
- Every page in scope, not a list of watches: changedetection.io watches the URLs you add or import. A MeshArc project covers a site or a section through its sitemap, and pages published tomorrow are caught as added.
- Removals you can trust: a run that reached under 90% of the site holds its removals back and says why, so a blocked crawl never reads as a mass deletion.
- Changes as data: titles, dates, canonicals and prices diffed field by field, and sent to one of 18 destinations as well as to Slack, Discord, Teams or email.
- Protected sites included: pages that refuse ordinary requests are rendered, and on the Growth plan and up read from residential addresses, with no proxies of your own.
changedetection.io pricing and MeshArc pricing
changedetection.io charges a flat monthly fee for its hosted service, and nothing to run yourself. MeshArc charges credits for the pages it reads, and nothing for a page that has not changed.
| changedetection.io | MeshArc | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Self-host the open-source version (Apache-2.0) | 1,000 credits once, 2 projects of up to 500 pages a run |
| Hosted | $8.99 a month for up to 5,000 URLs | Starter $29 a month: 10 projects of up to 5,000 pages a run |
| How often | From about every 5 minutes | Hourly, daily or weekly |
| What a check costs | Included in the plan | Credits for the pages read; unchanged pages, 404s and blocked pages are free |
| Scope | The URLs you add or import | A site or a sitemap section, with new pages found each run |
What each one does
| changedetection.io | MeshArc | |
|---|---|---|
| Open source, self-hostable | Yes (Apache-2.0) | No |
| A whole site from its sitemap | No: one watch per URL | Yes |
| Browser steps (log in, click, type) | Yes | Yes |
| Restock and price alerts | Yes | Field-level diffs of prices |
| Notifications | 85+ services through Apprise | Slack, Discord, Teams, Google Chat, email, signed webhooks |
| Changes delivered to a database or warehouse | Through its API or a webhook | 18 destinations |
Where changedetection.io is the better choice
If you watch a few dozen pages, want checks every few minutes, or want to run it on your own server for free, changedetection.io is the better fit, and its hosted plan is hard to beat at $8.99. MeshArc is for whole sites and sections, checked hourly or daily, with the changes going into your data as well as your inbox.
From watches to one project
- Group your watches by site: one project per site or section replaces a watch per URL.
- Take the scope from the sitemap: new pages are caught as added from the next run.
- Connect your alerts: Slack, Discord, Teams, Google Chat, email or a signed webhook.
- Send the changes on: to one of 18 destinations, or read them from the API.
What teams watch with it
Comparing with someone else?
Frequently asked questions
Is there a hosted changedetection.io?
Yes: the project runs its own hosted plan at $8.99 a month for up to 5,000 URLs, checked from about every 5 minutes. MeshArc is a different kind of tool: it watches whole sites and sections from their sitemaps rather than a list of URLs.
How do I get an alert when a website changes?
Pick the site or section, choose how often to check (hourly, daily or weekly) and where alerts go: Slack, Discord, Teams, Google Chat, email or a webhook. The first run sets the baseline; every run after it reports what changed, with cookie banners and timestamps filtered out.
Can I monitor website changes for free?
Yes. Self-host changedetection.io, which is open source, or use MeshArc’s free plan: 1,000 credits once and two projects, and a page that has not changed costs nothing.
Can changedetection.io watch a whole website?
It watches the URLs you add or import, one watch each. MeshArc watches a site or a section from its sitemap and finds new pages on every run.
Point it at a whole section
One project instead of a watch per URL.