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To monitor a website with Distill.io, choose whether checks should run in your browser or in Distill’s cloud, select the whole page or the specific elements that matter, verify the selection, then set a schedule and an alert action. For a price or other focused change, monitoring just that section usually avoids unrelated page changes.
Choose local or cloud monitoring first
This choice affects whether checks run when your computer is off, how quickly they can run, and how usage is counted. Distill’s published comparison gives these general distinctions; check your current plan and product configuration because terms can change.
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| Factor | Local monitor | Cloud monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Where checks run | Your browser or computer | Distill’s servers |
| Must your device stay available? | Yes. Checks stop when the browser or computer is unavailable. | No. Checks can continue while your device is off. |
| Published check interval | As often as every 5 seconds | Distill’s documentation lists a 2-minute minimum on Flexi. |
| Usage accounting | Checks listed as unlimited | Checks count toward plan allowances. |
| Format and proxy notes | PDF/XML and proxies are listed as unsupported locally. | PDF/XML and cloud proxies are listed as supported. |
Choose local monitoring when you need frequent checks and can leave the browser or computer running. Choose cloud monitoring when checks need to continue without your device; confirm your plan’s interval and allowance before setting expectations. Distill’s local-versus-cloud comparison and platform overview describe these distinctions.
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Set up a monitor in the browser extension
- Install the Distill extension for a supported browser—Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge have documented setup—and pin or expose its toolbar icon.
- Open the page you want to watch and click the Distill icon.
- Choose Monitor full page to watch the entire page, or Monitor parts of page to focus on the relevant section. For a price, availability notice, or other isolated detail, select only that content where practical.
- In selection mode, click the intended content. Adjust the selected bounds if needed, then inspect the preview to confirm it includes the information you want and excludes unrelated page content. Choose Save Selection.
- In the monitor options, choose the device, give the monitor a recognizable name, and set its check schedule.
- Use Add action to configure one or more notifications, then save the monitor. Some alert methods require signing in and entering additional details; availability depends on your plan.
- Open the monitor in the Watchlist to inspect its preview and change history.
Distill’s browser-extension setup guide documents the first-monitor flow.
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Set up a monitor in the web app
- Open Distill’s web app and select Add monitor.
- Choose Web Page and enter the page URL.
- Select Monitor Parts of Page to watch a specific section. To monitor everything, open the adjacent menu and choose Full Page.
- When the visual selector opens, enable selection mode, hover over the desired content, and select it. You can select multiple elements. Save the selection, or save with no selected elements for full-page monitoring.
- Configure the monitor’s schedule and notification actions on the options page, then save.
- Open the monitor preview to inspect what is being tracked and review its change history.
See Distill’s web-app monitoring instructions for its documented flow.
Improve selection quality and reduce noisy alerts
The selector translates visible content into selectors that Distill uses to compare changes. The web app defaults to CSS selectors, while browser extensions default to XPath selectors; manually created JavaScript selectors are also supported.
- Keep the selection as close as practical to the changing information you care about.
- Use multiple selections when the relevant information is split across separate areas.
- Expand or contract selected areas and exclude unwanted elements where needed.
- Inspect the saved selection before setting frequent checks. A broad selection can include navigation, rotating promotions, or other content that changes without affecting what you actually care about.
For cloud full-page monitoring, Distill says ad and cookie-popup blockers are enabled by default and those contents are excluded from selection. Check the actual page and selection to make sure this behavior suits your use case. See the visual selector documentation.
Configure schedules and notification actions
Set the schedule only after confirming the monitor is watching the intended content and that its local or cloud mode suits your availability needs. Distill lists email, SMS, push notifications, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and webhook-integrated apps among possible alert channels. Which actions and quotas are available depends on your plan; verify them in your account before relying on a particular channel.
Distill’s pricing page lists Free, Starter, Professional, and Flexi plans. Displayed prices in the reviewed listing were Free at $0, Starter at $15/month, Professional at $35/month, and Flexi at $80+/month; prices, plan names, quotas, and intervals are changeable. Check the current Distill pricing page for the terms that apply to your account.
Monitor pages that require sign-in
A local browser monitor can use cookies already present in that browser. A cloud check does not automatically inherit the browser profile or its sign-in cookies from your computer, so a page that is public to you may still appear logged out in the cloud.
Distill’s documentation describes saving cookies through cloud profiles, but labels that profiles workflow deprecated in favor of Dedicated Cloud Devices. Do not assume the older profile steps are current: consult Distill’s profile documentation and verify the current Dedicated Cloud Device setup before configuring authenticated monitoring.
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- The extension icon is hard to find: pin or expose it in the browser toolbar, then reopen the target page and start the monitor from the icon.
- The alert fires for unrelated changes: edit the monitor’s selection to exclude changing areas you do not care about, save it, and inspect the preview before restoring a frequent schedule.
- The cloud monitor shows a sign-in page: cloud checks do not automatically share your local browser cookies. Verify the current Dedicated Cloud Device workflow with Distill rather than relying on the deprecated profiles procedure.
- A notification action is missing or cannot be configured: alert availability and limits depend on the plan, and some actions require sign-in or additional account details. Check the account’s plan and action settings.
- Checks do not run while your computer is off: that is expected for local monitoring. Use a cloud monitor if checks must continue without the device, subject to the plan’s schedule and allowance.
Or skip the browser setup
Distill is for ongoing change monitoring; ScreenshotNeo is for requesting a screenshot or PDF of a page. If you need a capture rather than a scheduled change alert, one GET request returns the result. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for parameters and response details.
Quick Recap
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpScreenshotNeo accepts cookie and consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers indicate the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server provides screenshot tools for AI agents, and the Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.
Sign up for ScreenshotNeo’s free plan.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
