OnWebChange alternatives, one blunt line each

Every few months someone posts "what are people using instead of OnWebChange" and the replies turn into a pile of links with no context. Here are the OnWebChange alternatives worth your time, each with one blunt verdict and the numbers from the vendors' own pricing pages, checked in October 2026.

First, a word for the incumbent. OnWebChange has run since 2009, starts at 0.89 euros a month, and does CSS selection, number rules, PDF tracking and even AI summaries. Nobody leaves it because it is expensive. People leave because keyword filters keep pinging them about edits that do not matter, because the free plan only checks daily, or because what they want to follow is a topic, not a URL.

1. AyeWatch

Verdict: the one that reads the change before it bothers you.

You paste a URL and write the rule as a sentence, something like "ping me when the API rate limits on this docs page change, not when they fix a typo". AyeWatch checks the meaning of each change against that sentence and sends a short summary when it matches. It also watches topics across news, forums, blogs and social sources like X, Reddit and YouTube, which a plain page tracker does not cover.

Apps for iOS and Android, push and an in-app feed on every plan; email, Slack, Discord, webhooks and an API from Pro. Free Preview gives three lifetime runs. Paid plans start at $9 a month. One monitor can hold several URLs under a single rule, and because rules describe meaning rather than point at elements, a redesign of the page does not break them. That is the maintenance you stop doing.

2. Visualping

Verdict: the safe corporate pick.

Visual, text and element comparison with AI summaries. Free plan covers 5 pages and 150 checks a month. Personal plans start at $14 a month. Fine if your boss wants screenshots in the report.

3. Distill

Verdict: for people who already live in a browser extension.

Element conditions and free local checks, but local monitors stop when your browser does. Free plan has 25 monitors, only 5 of them in the cloud. Starter is $15 a month.

4. Sken.io

Verdict: cheapest way to check a page every minute.

Plans from 3 euros a month for 500 checks, all tiers allowing checks as often as every minute. A 14-day trial with 140 checks instead of a free plan.

5. changedetection.io

Verdict: the self-hoster's answer, and you know it.

Open source and free on your own box. The hosted version is $8.99 a month. CSS and XPath targeting, browser steps for logins. You maintain it, you own it.

6. PageCrawl.io

Verdict: lots of checks for not much money.

Free Forever plan tracks 6 pages with 220 checks. Standard is $13.33 a month billed yearly, for up to 200 pages and 30,000 checks.

7. Wachete

Verdict: worth a look if your pages sit behind a login.

Watches whole pages or sections, has a free plan and apps. We could not confirm its paid prices on the vendor site, so check before you commit.

The thread-ready summary

When to just stay put

If your trackers watch public pages, your filters already behave, and the bill is under 3 euros a month, OnWebChange is doing its job. It also tracks PDFs and login pages through custom headers, which several tools on this list do not. Moving only makes sense when the alerts have become the problem.

For the full comparison table and a longer write-up, AyeWatch keeps a page on why people pick it over OnWebChange.