Changedetection Hosting

First add a password under Settings, as directed by PikaPods. Then add a URL to watch, choose its checking interval and review the first result. Configure a notification destination and test it before relying on alerts. The project wiki covers watch settings and notification configuration.

No. PikaPods sets up and runs Changedetection for you, including OS and app updates and HTTPS. You won't touch Docker or a server. Your data stays available over SFTP if you ever want to move it elsewhere.

Yes. PikaPods includes a Playwright browser, and Changedetection supports browser-based fetching as well as plain HTTP requests. Select the browser fetcher when a page needs JavaScript. Sites with logins, access restrictions or bot challenges can still need extra configuration or remain inaccessible; see the browser fetching guide.

You can review changes in the web interface without a separate notification account. Email and chat notifications need the credentials or webhook details for your chosen service, and those providers may charge separately. Optional proxy services also have their own costs; see the notification documentation.

Set up incremental backups to S3 in your pod settings for automatic nightly snapshots, or copy your files over SFTP. We keep whole-server backups for server failures, but they aren't a per-pod restore service, so your own backup is what protects your data.

Changedetection is an open source alternative to Visualping. Its source code is public, so anyone can inspect or improve it, and you aren't tied to one vendor.

No. You add prepaid credit and your pods are billed by the hour from that balance, rounded up to full hours. There are no contracts or minimum terms: delete a pod anytime and billing stops. Optional automatic top-ups keep your pods running without manual payments.

You do. And you're in full control. If you ever want to download, migrate, edit or delete your data, just enable SFTP access to your pod and it will be right there.