Moving to a hosted changedetection io alternative, step by step

You set up changedetection.io on a spare server, it worked, and then it became one more thing to patch. If you want a changedetection io alternative that someone else keeps running, this guide walks through moving your watches into AyeWatch one at a time. There is no import file, so the move is manual, but each watch usually turns into a single sentence.

Before you start: list what each watch does

Open your changedetection.io dashboard and write down, for every watch:

• the URL
• the CSS or XPath selector, if you set one
• any Trigger Text or Ignore Text filters
• whether it uses Browser Steps to log in or click through
• where the notification goes (Slack, Discord, email, Telegram and so on)

That list is your migration plan. Most rows will move cleanly. Rows that depend on Browser Steps need a decision, covered further down.

Step 1: group related URLs

changedetection.io treats every URL as its own watch. An AyeWatch monitor can hold several URLs under one rule, so start by grouping. A vendor's pricing page, status page and changelog can share a monitor if you want one stream of updates about that vendor. Three watches become one monitor, and you only write the rule once.

Step 2: turn selectors and filters into a sentence

This is the part that saves the most time later. In changedetection.io you narrow a page with a selector, then add ignore rules for the dates, counters and ads that still slip through. In AyeWatch you describe the change instead. Some examples of how a filter set translates:

AyeWatch checks each new version of the page against that sentence and sends a short written summary when a change matches. A timestamp that ticks over does not match "a new version is published", so it stays quiet without a filter of its own.

Step 3: pick a schedule

changedetection.io lets you set a recheck time per watch. AyeWatch has two modes. Custom lets you set the interval yourself. Auto, on paid plans, checks more often while a page is busy and slows down when it goes quiet, so you do not have to guess.

On price: paid plans start at $9 a month, after a Free Preview of three runs with no card. Because one rule can cover several URLs, a short watch list stays easy to manage.

Step 4: point the alerts somewhere

changedetection.io sends to over 85 notification services. AyeWatch has fewer, but covers the ones most teams use: push on iOS and Android and the in-app feed on every plan, and on paid plans email, Slack, Discord, signed webhooks and a REST API. You choose the channel per monitor, so the release watcher can go to an engineering channel and the price watcher to your phone.

If you used a custom JSON notification to feed another system, the webhook is the replacement. Paid plans also include an MCP server, so an assistant can create or pause monitors for you.

Step 5: run both for a week

Keep the old instance running while the new monitors build up a history. Compare what each one flagged. If AyeWatch missed something you cared about, the rule was probably too narrow; widen the sentence rather than adding more rules.

Watches that should stay put

Be honest with your list. AyeWatch is hosted only. If a watch needs Browser Steps to log in, fill a form or add an item to a cart, or if your data has to stay on your own server, changedetection.io is the better tool for that job. Plenty of people end up running both: the self-hosted box for a handful of logged-in pages, and AyeWatch for everything public.

Try it on one watch first

The Free Preview gives you three runs with no card, which is enough to test your noisiest watch before moving the rest. For a side-by-side of the two tools, see AyeWatch compared with changedetection.io.