HTML Change Detection
Diff the source if you want. Semantic monitoring tells you what the diff means.
HTML change detection diffs the page source. Semantic monitoring tells you what the diff means. If you already live in unified diffs, you may want the source. If you live in Slack, you want the meaning.
ChangeDetection.io is the honest HTML watcher. It is free, self-hosted, and loud. Ignore lists help. They never finish. A new data attribute still pings you at 11 p.m.
When a raw diff is the right artifact
Security reviews. "Did this script tag appear?" Legal holds where the source is the exhibit. Those jobs want HTML. AyeWatch is the wrong buy there. Use ChangeDetection or Distill and keep the file.
For pricing, TOS prose, jobs, and listings, the source diff is a chore. The ChangeDetection alternative post covers the switch. AyeWatch reads the rendered copy and writes a sentence.
Selectors are another HTML hobby
Distill asks you to pick a node. That is HTML change detection with a smaller scope. It breaks when the frontend restyles. AyeWatch does not ask for the node. You describe the fact. Free Preview is six lifetime runs, three topics, Daily or slower, push and in-app. Pro is $9 a month.
Paid adds Slack and webhooks. That is usually why people leave a self-hosted diff: the alert never reached the channel the team reads.
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Free Preview is six lifetime runs across three topics. No card.
Try AyeWatch freeDo not mix the jobs in one tool
Keep an HTML watcher if you need the source. Keep AyeWatch if you need the summary. Running both on the same URL is fine. Running a hash watcher and expecting a prose briefing is how the mute button gets worn out.
Paste a public URL. If the first AyeWatch alert is a fact, you did not need the diff. If you needed the script tag, you still need the HTML tool. HTML change detection and semantic monitoring can sit on the same URL. One files the source. One tells the team. That is a stack, not a contradiction. Just do not expect one product to be both artifacts. Pick the report you will forward. HTML change detection is the source file. AyeWatch is the briefing. Forward the briefing. Archive the source if counsel asks.