Can Distill.io Monitor Websites on a Schedule? How to Set Check Intervals

Yes. Distill.io can check websites on a schedule. Open a monitor’s Options page or its schedule control in the Watchlist, then choose a fixed interval, a randomized interval range, or—when available—a specialized schedule. The shortest interval depends on the execution mode and plan, so confirm the options shown in your account.

Set a check schedule in Distill

Open the monitor’s Options page, or click the schedule shown for that monitor in the Watchlist.
Choose a scheduling mode:
- Interval: check at a regular, fixed interval.
- Random: check at randomized times between a selected minimum and maximum.
- Live: continuously monitor a page. Distill’s scheduling guide limits this option to local monitors and recommends it for pages whose content updates through JavaScript.
- Cron Tab: schedule recurring checks for specific times, days, weeks, or months. The guide lists this as an Enterprise plan feature.
If this is a local monitor, optionally restrict checks to selected days and time windows. For example, you could allow checks on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The monitor follows its configured schedule only during the allowed window.
Save the schedule and verify that the monitor is active. If a mode or interval is unavailable, check the account’s plan and the monitor’s execution mode.

Distill’s documented flow is to open a page on a schedule, read its content, compare it with the prior result, and notify you when content changes. See the official schedule guide for the current controls.

Choose local or cloud checks

Mode	Where the check runs	Must your device stay on?	Useful when
Local	Your browser or desktop app	Yes. The browser or device needs to be running for checks to happen.	You need short intervals or the page must be checked from your local environment.
Cloud	Distill’s servers	No. Your computer can be off.	You want checks to continue without leaving your computer running.

Distill’s web app defaults monitors added there to cloud monitoring, according to its documentation. Local checks depend on the client being available; a closed browser or sleeping device can prevent a check from running at its scheduled time. See Distill’s local-versus-cloud guide and service overview.

Understand interval limits

There is no single documented minimum cloud interval that applies to every Distill plan and monitor. Distill’s official pages give different cloud minimums: one guide says the web app’s minimum is 2 minutes on Flexi, while another enterprise-local-monitoring page says the cloud minimum is 1 minute. The same pages describe local checks as available as frequently as every 5 seconds. Distill’s features page broadly advertises custom frequency from 5 seconds to 30 days, but that range should not be read as a guarantee that every plan and monitor can use every interval.

Use the interval selector in your own account as the operational source of truth. Check the relevant supported platforms page and plan details if an interval you expect is missing. Availability can depend on plan, execution mode, and platform.

Choose a schedule that fits the page

Need	Schedule to consider	Check before relying on it
Predictable polling	Fixed interval	Confirm the interval is available for this monitor and plan.
Checks spread across a range	Random interval	Set the intended minimum and maximum bounds.
JavaScript-driven content that changes continuously	Live local monitoring	Live is documented for local monitors; keep the relevant browser or device running.
Specific days and clock times	Cron Tab, where available	The schedule guide lists Cron Tab as Enterprise-only.
Checks only during working hours	Local schedule with day and time restrictions	Confirm the local monitor remains active during the window.

For less time-sensitive pages, a longer interval reduces unnecessary checks. For short-lived changes, use the shortest interval actually offered to the monitor and ensure the execution environment can stay available.

Troubleshooting schedule problems

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
No checks happen at the expected time	A local monitor’s browser or device is closed, asleep, or unavailable.	Keep the local execution environment running, or use cloud monitoring if the page and plan support it.
The interval you need is not selectable	Interval availability differs by plan, platform, and execution mode.	Check the choices shown in the monitor and consult the current platform and plan documentation.
Cloud minimum appears inconsistent across documentation	Distill’s official pages state different cloud minimums.	Rely on the interval selector for your account rather than assuming one universal minimum.
Live or Cron Tab is missing	Live is documented for local monitors; Cron Tab is listed as an Enterprise feature.	Confirm the monitor type and plan. Use an available interval schedule if the specialized mode is not offered.
Checks occur only during part of the day	A local time-window restriction limits when the configured schedule can run.	Review selected days and time slots, then adjust the window if you need checks outside it.
A change is not detected as expected	The monitored content may not be present in the page state Distill reads, or the check may not have run yet.	Confirm the page content is available to the monitor and review the schedule and execution mode.

Performance, reliability, and cost considerations

Detection delay: a scheduled check can only detect a change after a check observes it. Shorter intervals can reduce the wait, subject to the choices your account provides.
Local availability: local checks rely on a running browser or desktop environment, so device sleep, shutdown, or browser closure can interrupt monitoring.
Cloud availability: cloud checks do not require your computer to stay on, but the actual interval options remain plan- and mode-dependent.
Time windows: restricting local checks to working hours means changes outside those hours may wait until the next allowed check.
Cost: the supplied Distill documentation explains schedule modes and interval limits but does not provide pricing figures. Check Distill’s current plan information before choosing a frequency for many monitors.

Or skip the browser setup

If your goal is to capture a page on demand rather than monitor changes over time, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. One GET request returns an image or PDF. It is not a scheduled change-monitoring service; it can be useful when your workflow needs a screenshot at a particular step.

For the do-it-yourself scheduled-monitoring workflow, use Distill’s schedule controls above. For a one-call screenshot, see the ScreenshotNeo API documentation and use cURL:

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

The response can be PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie or consent banners as a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each cleanup step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month, with no card required.

FAQ

Can Distill check only on weekdays?

Local monitors can be restricted to selected days and time slots. The scheduling guide gives weekdays during working hours as an example.

Does my computer need to stay on?

For local monitoring, yes: the browser or desktop environment must be running. Cloud monitoring runs on Distill’s servers, so your computer can be off.

Is every schedule mode available on every plan?

No. The documentation identifies Live as local-only and Cron Tab as an Enterprise feature. Interval choices also vary by plan and mode.

Can ScreenshotNeo replace Distill’s scheduled monitoring?

No. ScreenshotNeo returns screenshots or PDFs from capture requests; the facts provided here do not describe scheduled change detection or alerts.