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Changedetection Hosting
Watch webpages for meaningful changes and receive alerts when monitored content updates.
No setup fees-
One click deploy -
1 GB RAM Memory needed -
15 GB Disk Space Needed -
From 2 € Price
Official links
Changedetection’s official links and original website
Changedetection Website
More
Tech
- Docker image
- dgtlmoon/changedetection.io:latest
- Default port
- 5000
How Changedetection works
Changedetection stores a watch for each URL and checks that target on the schedule selected by the operator. New responses are compared with earlier versions, and the interface presents the difference by word, line, or character so a user can review what actually moved rather than receiving only a generic availability signal.
Filters narrow a watch to useful content through CSS selectors, XPath, JSONPath, jq, regular expressions, trigger text, and ignored text. Browser Steps can fill fields or click controls before extraction when a Playwright-capable fetcher is enabled, while the REST API manages watches, groups, notification settings, and related automation.
Key Changedetection features
Price and restock rules can detect product metadata and notify when thresholds or availability states change. PDF text, JSON responses, page source, checksums, and selected visual regions can also become monitored targets, making the same instance useful for procurement, policy tracking, release notes, and defacement checks.
Notification URLs connect the application to webhooks, chat systems, incident tools, and other providers supported by its notification library. Each channel depends on its own credentials and endpoint. The hosted service does not supply application email, so mail-based notifications are unavailable even though the upstream software documents them.
Changedetection vs Visualping
Changedetection gives administrators a self-hosted watch list, diff history, selectors, browser workflows, notification URLs, and an API. Visualping is a provider-operated product that monitors chosen page regions and sends managed change alerts, with browser extensions, integrations, an API, and business monitoring use cases.
Visualping may be preferable when a team wants vendor-run crawling, account administration, and alert delivery under a commercial plan. Changedetection fits organisations that want to control the monitoring instance and are prepared to configure fetchers, notification providers, credentials, target-site access, and retention themselves.
Who uses Changedetection
Purchasing teams monitor stock and prices, legal groups follow regulations or policy pages, security staff watch public sites for unexpected edits, and researchers track listings, publications, or programme updates. Developers can also turn detected text into API calls or RSS feeds for downstream workflows.
Target sites can impose logins, consent screens, rate limits, CAPTCHAs, or anti-bot controls. Browser Steps help with ordinary interactive flows, but access to protected pages still depends on the target, the enabled fetcher, and any proxy or credentials supplied by the operator.
Self-hosting Changedetection: requirements and cost
Resource demand rises with the number of watches, check frequency, response size, diff history, screenshots, browser-rendered pages, API activity, and concurrent users. The catalogue records PostgreSQL and MariaDB as Not required; watch configuration, snapshots, history, and local application files must still remain attached during updates and recovery.
On AvaHost, Changedetection uses Plan 1 at €2. The hosted Changedetection package includes one-click deployment, a custom domain with automated HTTPS, automatic application updates, and scheduled backups. Application email is disabled, so configure and test supported non-email notification URLs with the required third-party credentials. Browser rendering, proxy services, target-site accounts, and access permissions are not bundled with the hosting plan.
F.A.Q
Changedetection starts at €2 on Plan 1. The entry plan suits a modest watch list using lightweight fetches. Watch count, polling frequency, page size, screenshot retention, browser rendering, diff history, API calls, and simultaneous reviewers determine when more memory, processing, or storage becomes useful.
A custom domain can expose the monitoring dashboard through automated HTTPS once DNS points to AvaHost. After attaching the final hostname, verify administrator access, watch previews, callbacks, and notification links. Any monitored page credentials or proxy settings remain separate and should be tested without exposing secrets in shared watch notes.
Mail notifications are unavailable on the hosted service. Changedetection supports notification URLs for webhooks, chat tools, incident systems, and other providers, but each route needs compatible credentials and configuration. Create a harmless test watch, trigger a known change, and confirm the selected non-email channel before relying on it for operational events.
Not necessarily. Login forms, JavaScript rendering, consent prompts, rate limits, CAPTCHAs, and bot defences can affect a watch. Browser Steps and a Playwright-capable fetcher cover ordinary interactions, while proxies or target-site accounts may be required separately. Confirm that monitoring is permitted and test the exact page flow before depending on the result.