---
title: "Peekivo vs Distill: Differences and When to Choose Each"
description: "Distill and Peekivo compared from Distill's own pages: local and cloud monitors, the free plan, check intervals and pages behind a login."
canonical_url: https://peekivo.com/en/compare/distill
language: en
last_updated: 2026-10-01
---

# Peekivo and Distill: how they differ

Distill is the better choice if you need to watch pages behind your own login, or want checks that run in your own browser or desktop app as often as every few seconds. Peekivo is in early access with a waitlist; it reads public pages only and is built around one approval step that shows the page, the rule and an earlier example before anything is watched.

## What Distill documents

**Distill facts from its own website, fetched 1 October 2026**

| | |
|---|---|
| Where checks run | In a browser extension or desktop app on your device (local monitors), or on Distill's servers (cloud monitors). |
| Free plan | $0 for 25 monitors, 5 of them in the cloud, with a 6-hour minimum cloud interval, 1,000 cloud checks and 30 email alerts a month. |
| Paid plans | Starter at $15 a month, Professional at $35 a month and Flexi from $80 a month. |
| Check intervals | Cloud minimums from 6 hours on Free down to 2 minutes on Flexi; local monitors can be set from 5 seconds. |
| Local checks | Distill's FAQ says browser extension checks are unlimited, while cloud checks are restricted. |
| Pages behind a login | Its homepage lists monitoring password-protected pages, PDFs and private pages. |
| CAPTCHAs | Its pricing FAQ says Distill tries to solve captchas during cloud checks, with reCAPTCHA v2 solving on premium plans. |
| Apps | Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, and mobile apps. |

## Side by side

Distill cells repeat what Distill's website says. Peekivo cells describe what you can use today, and Peekivo is not open for sign-up yet.

**Distill and Peekivo, documented facts**

| | Distill (from its website) | Peekivo today |
|---|---|---|
| Can you start using it today? | Yes, with a free plan | not yet |
| Free plan | Yes: 25 monitors, 5 in the cloud | no |
| Checks from your own browser or computer | Yes, through the extension or desktop app | not yet |
| Pages behind your own login | Yes, password-protected pages are listed | not yet |
| Shortest cloud check interval | 2 minutes on Flexi | not yet |
| Approve the page, rule and an earlier example before watching | not measured yet | not yet |

## Where Peekivo is different

- You describe what you want to hear about in your own words, and Peekivo answers with one approval card: the page, the rule and an earlier example of a match. Nothing is watched until you approve it.
- Reads run on Peekivo's servers, not in your browser, and each watch keeps its last attempt and its last successful read apart.
- An alert shows the page before and after the change, next to the rule that matched.
- Peekivo does not get around logins, CAPTCHAs or bot walls. When a read is blocked, the watch says it was blocked instead of trying another way in.
- The proposed plans do not charge automatically for extra usage. Plan names, limits and prices are proposals until launch.

> This describes how Peekivo is built. It has not been tested side by side with Distill, so nothing here says either tool is faster or more accurate.

## Questions people ask about Distill

### How much does Distill.io cost?

Distill's pricing page lists Free at $0, Starter at $15 a month, Professional at $35 a month and Flexi from $80 a month, with a discount for annual billing (accessed 1 October 2026).

### Is Distill Web Monitor free?

It has a free plan with 25 monitors, 5 of them in the cloud, a 6-hour minimum cloud interval and 1,000 cloud checks a month, according to its pricing page (accessed 1 October 2026).

### How does a Distill web monitor work?

Distill's homepage describes three steps: select the parts of the page you want to track, let Distill monitor the page in the background, and get alerts by notification, email, SMS or apps when something changes. Monitors run locally in its extension or desktop app, or in its cloud (accessed 1 October 2026).

## Switching from Distill

Peekivo cannot import monitors from Distill yet. If you join the waitlist, you would set up each page again once Peekivo opens, and Peekivo cannot watch pages behind your login yet.

## Method and limits

Every Distill fact on this page comes from Distill's own website, fetched on 1 October 2026. Plans and prices change, so check its pricing page before you decide. A cell marked not measured yet means we have not checked it, not that Distill lacks it.

## Related pages

- [All comparisons](https://peekivo.com/en/compare)
- [Peekivo and Visualping](https://peekivo.com/en/compare/visualping)
- [Peekivo and changedetection.io](https://peekivo.com/en/compare/changedetection-io)
- [Why didn't my website monitor alert me?](https://peekivo.com/en/guides/why-didnt-my-website-monitor-alert-me)
- [Proposed Peekivo plans](https://peekivo.com/en/pricing)
- [About Peekivo](https://peekivo.com/en/about)

## Sources

- [Distill: Pricing and plans](https://distill.io/pricing/), fetched 2026-10-01
- [Distill homepage](https://distill.io/), fetched 2026-10-01