Monitoring a Website for Changes: Daily vs Hourly
A simple way to choose the check interval: match it to the cost of being late, not to the fastest setting.
By AyeWatch Team3 min read
Short answer: Choose daily checks for pages that move weekly or monthly, hourly checks for pricing, jobs, and listings that can move during a workday, and ASAP checks for restocks, filings, and presales. The interval should match the cost of being late.
AyeWatch offers daily and hourly checks on Pro ($9/mo, 50 topics) and ASAP mode on Pro+ ($19/mo, 200 topics). Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
The cost of being late
Ask what happens if you learn about the change a day late. If the answer is "nothing," daily is enough. If the answer is "we lose the deal," hourly or ASAP is the honest choice.
Most teams overbuy speed and underbuy specificity. A fast check with a vague rule is a firehose. A daily check with a tight rule is a briefing.
Daily is enough for
Terms of service, privacy policies, regulator guidance, slow blogs, quarterly roadmaps, and most careers pages. These pages move on a human schedule, and a day of latency rarely changes the decision.
Daily checks are also cheaper to reason about. You get one summary a day, and you can read it with coffee instead of reacting to a ping.
Hourly is for
Competitor pricing, plan changes, job listings, marketplace inventory, and vendor status pages. These can move during a workday, and the difference between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. can matter.
Hourly is the default for business pages on AyeWatch Pro. It is fast enough for most decisions and slow enough to stay readable.
ASAP is for
Restocks, ticket presales, regulatory filings, court dockets, and anything where minutes decide the outcome. Pro+ adds ASAP mode for these watches.
Do not put a quarterly policy page on ASAP. Speed you do not need is noise you will learn to ignore.
Decide in one minute
Write the page, the fact, and the consequence of a one-day delay. If the consequence is small, choose daily. If it is material, choose hourly. If it is irreversible, choose ASAP.
Then test it for a week. The first alert will tell you whether the interval matches the page. The monitoring intervals guide goes deeper on the tradeoffs.
| Page | Default interval | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Terms of service | Daily | Moves monthly; a day of latency is fine |
| Competitor pricing | Hourly | Can change during a workday |
| Careers index | Daily or hourly | Roles can open and close fast |
| Marketplace listing | Hourly or ASAP | Inventory and price move quickly |
| Restock page | ASAP | Minutes decide whether you buy |
Start a monitor in under a minute
Describe a topic or paste a URL. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing.
Try it free for 7 daysThe bottom line
Write down what a one-day delay would cost for the page in front of you. That number picks the interval. If you cannot name a cost, start daily and revisit after the first real change.
FAQ
How often should I monitor a website for changes?
Daily for slow policy and blog pages, hourly for pricing, jobs, and listings, and ASAP for restocks, filings, and presales. Match the interval to the cost of learning a day late.
Is hourly monitoring enough for competitor pricing?
For most teams, yes. If a price change triggers an automatic repricing or a same-day deal, use ASAP. Otherwise hourly keeps the alert readable.
Can I change the interval later?
Yes. Start slow and increase speed only when a real decision was delayed. The interval is a setting, not a commitment.
Does a faster interval cost more?
On AyeWatch, hourly is included on Pro and ASAP requires Pro+. Check the pricing page for the current limits before you choose.