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Yes. Distill.io can check a website on a schedule. Open a monitor’s Options page or use its schedule control in the Watchlist, then choose a fixed interval, a randomized interval range, or a supported scheduling mode such as Live or Cron Tab. The choices available depend on how the monitor runs and your plan.

Set or change a Distill check schedule

  1. Open the monitor’s Options page, or click the monitor’s schedule in the Watchlist.
  2. Choose the scheduling mode that fits the job:
    • Interval: check at a regular interval.
    • Random: check at randomized times between a minimum and maximum interval you choose.
    • Live: continuously monitor a page. Distill’s scheduling guide limits this mode to local monitors and recommends it for pages whose content updates through JavaScript.
    • Cron Tab: schedule checks for specific recurring times, days, weeks, or months. Distill’s guide says this option is available on the Enterprise plan.
  3. If this is a local monitor, you can optionally restrict checks to selected days and time windows. For example, the guide describes limiting checks to weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The monitor follows its configured schedule only within the selected window.

See Distill’s schedule setup guide for the controls and modes.

Choose local or cloud monitoring

The execution mode determines where checks happen and whether your device has to stay on. Distill describes a monitor as opening a page on a schedule, reading its content, comparing it with the previous result, and notifying you when content changes. See its overview of how Distill works.

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Mode Where checks run Must your device be running? Useful when
Local Your browser or desktop app Yes. The browser or device needs to be running for checks to happen. You need the local environment, or want a shorter interval where your plan and app allow it.
Cloud Distill’s servers No. Your computer can be off. You want checks to continue without leaving your computer or browser running.

Distill says monitors added in its web app default to cloud monitoring. Mode details are in its local-versus-cloud guide.

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Check the shortest interval your account allows

Distill’s official pages give different minimums for cloud monitoring, so there is no single cloud minimum that can safely be stated for every plan and setup. One official guide says the web app’s Flexi minimum is 2 minutes and the browser add-on minimum is 5 seconds; its local-versus-cloud guide also gives 2 minutes for Flexi cloud and 5 seconds for local checks. A separate Enterprise local-monitoring page gives a 1-minute cloud minimum. The pages do not agree on the cloud figure.

Distill’s supported platforms page and local-versus-cloud guide describe those mode- and plan-specific limits. Its features page advertises custom tracking frequency from 5 seconds to 30 days, but that broad range does not establish that every plan and monitor can use every interval. Use the interval choices shown in your account for the monitor you are configuring.

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Troubleshoot a schedule that is not working as expected

  • The interval you want is not selectable: available intervals depend on plan and execution mode. Check the choices for that monitor in your account rather than assuming a minimum applies universally.
  • A local monitor stops checking when you close the browser or turn off the device: local checks depend on the browser or device running. Use cloud monitoring if checks need to continue while your computer is off.
  • A monitor does not run outside the selected hours: local time-slot restrictions intentionally limit checks to the chosen days and windows. Review the monitor’s schedule and time slots.
  • The page changes without a regular reload: Distill’s guide identifies Live mode for JavaScript-driven auto-updating content, but says it is for local monitors only.
  • You need checks at calendar times rather than at intervals: use Cron Tab if it is available for your plan; Distill documents it as an Enterprise feature.

Or skip the browser setup

If you need a clean screenshot of a page rather than recurring change monitoring, ScreenshotNeo can return an image or PDF from one request. It is not a scheduled website-change monitor, so it does not replace Distill alerts. ScreenshotNeo removes cookie and consent banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are not billed. It also has an MCP server for AI agents, and includes 1,000 screenshots a month free with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000.

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Example cURL request:

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Distill send an alert when a monitored page changes?

Yes. Distill describes comparing a page’s content with its previous result and notifying you when it changes.

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Can I schedule checks only during working hours?

Distill documents day and time-window restrictions for local monitors.

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