Distill.io monitors web pages and selected page content for changes, then sends alerts when those changes meet conditions you set. It offers both local checks that run on your device and cloud checks that run on Distill’s servers. The right fit depends chiefly on how often you need checks, whether monitoring must continue while your device is off, and whether the target site permits cloud access.
What Distill.io does
Distill is a website-change monitoring tool. You can track an entire page or select a specific element, then compare later checks with earlier ones. Distill documents selection and filtering tools including XPath, CSS, regular expressions, JavaScript, and conditions based on page content or numeric ranges. These can help limit alerts to changes that matter rather than every page update. Distill documentation
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Distill lists web pages, PDFs, JSON, Word documents, XML, feeds, uptime, and sitemaps among its monitor types. Alert channels include email, SMS, mobile push, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other services connected through webhooks. Availability of a particular channel or feature may depend on the plan and configuration.
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Distill is available as a web app, browser extensions, phone apps, and desktop apps. Distill’s documentation describes its desktop apps as being in public beta, so check its current product pages if desktop-app availability is important to your decision.
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Local or cloud monitoring: which should you use?
| Execution type | Where checks run | What it is useful for | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local | Your browser or desktop device | Frequent checks or sites that block remote cloud requests | Your device must be on, and the relevant browser or app must remain open |
| Cloud | Distill’s servers | Monitoring that continues when your computer is off | Checks consume plan resources, and some sites may block Distill’s cloud requests |
When local monitoring makes sense
Distill documents local intervals as short as five seconds and says local checks are unlimited. That can make local monitoring useful when you need rapid polling or a website behaves differently toward remote requests. The trade-off is that checks depend on an active device and open browser or app; it is not set-and-forget monitoring if that device is regularly shut down.
When cloud monitoring makes sense
Cloud monitors run on Distill’s servers and can keep checking while your own computer is off. Distill’s documentation says its Flexi plan permits a two-minute minimum interval for web-app checks, while browser add-on checks can run at five-second intervals. Cloud checking is therefore not a single uniform interval: confirm the execution surface and plan rules for the monitor you intend to use.
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Distill notes that websites can block its cloud requests. It recommends considering proxies for cloud monitors or using local monitoring; proxy availability depends on plan and setup. Neither execution method guarantees that every website can be monitored successfully.
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Plan limits and resource counting
Distill’s official pricing and feature pages, accessed on October 3, 2026, listed these free-tier allowances and paid-tier check quotas. These are vendor-listed plan limits, not independent performance measurements, and may change; check the live pricing page and your region before subscribing.
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| Plan information shown by Distill | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Free local monitors | 25 |
| Free cloud monitors | 5 |
| Free alert frequency | Six hours |
| Free cloud checks | 1,000 per month |
| Free email alerts | 30 |
| Free phone push notifications | 100 |
| Free devices | 2 |
| Paid-tier monthly cloud checks shown | 30,000; 100,000; and 200,000+ on Flexi |
Distill defines a cloud check in ten-second units: a check taking up to ten seconds counts as one, while one taking more than ten seconds and less than twenty seconds counts as two. Thus, a slow page can use more of a monthly quota than a faster page even when each is checked once. The pricing FAQ says unused resources expire at the end of the billing period; Flexi usage above reserved resources is billed at the end of that period. Distill’s pricing page does not establish a stable price list in the material available here, so review its current plan prices rather than relying on an old quote. Distill pricing
Who Distill.io is suited to
Distill’s official examples include finding hard-to-find items, tracking ticket availability, and monitoring appointment dates. It also describes business uses such as competitive intelligence, legislative tracking, and grant monitoring. The same basic fit applies whenever a page or a particular part of it changes and a notification is useful.
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- Choose local monitoring if a site blocks cloud access, you need very frequent checks, and you can keep the relevant device and app active.
- Choose cloud monitoring if checks should continue while your computer is off and the site is reachable from Distill’s cloud.
- Check resource needs first if you will monitor many pages, check frequently, or watch slow pages; cloud checks and alert quotas can become the practical constraint.
- Allow setup time if you need precise element selection, content conditions, or macros. Distill documents these capabilities, but their effectiveness for a particular site depends on configuration.
Before committing, estimate the number of monitors, desired interval, expected page load time, alert channels and quotas, and need for history or macros. Also determine whether the target site works through cloud execution or requires local monitoring or an available proxy option.
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- Local checks stop being dependable when the required device or browser is not running.
- Cloud checks consume plan resources, and a website may block Distill’s servers even when local monitoring works.
- Advanced selectors, conditions, and macros can require adjustment; documentation of a feature does not guarantee it will work unchanged on every page.
- Plan allowances, app availability, and prices can change. Verify current official details for your account and region.
- No independent accuracy, alert-speed, uptime, or user-satisfaction figures are established here; treat vendor plan limits as allowances rather than proof of monitoring performance.
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Distill monitors changes over time; ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers, not a replacement for a change-monitoring service. If your goal is to capture a page as an image or PDF from code or an AI agent, ScreenshotNeo is an alternative to try first: it removes known cookie-consent banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture, and bills only clean shots.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can Distill monitor only part of a webpage?
Yes. Distill documents visual selection and refinement with tools such as XPath, CSS, regular expressions, and JavaScript.
Does Distill keep checking if my computer is off?
Cloud monitors run on Distill’s servers and can continue while your computer is off. Local monitors require the relevant device and browser or app to be active.
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