PageCrawl alternative · compared as of October 2026
PageCrawl vs ProofSnap: a change alert, or a sealed exhibit for every change?
In 2026, choose PageCrawl for change alerts on hundreds of pages. Choose ProofSnap when a change may end up in court: every detected change becomes a sealed evidence package with an evidence PDF in 29 languages, a signed SHA-256 manifest and a Bitcoin anchor, from $1.49 per change, with an optional eIDAS qualified timestamp at $1.99.
Monitoring runs in the ProofSnap Dashboard on any paid plan; the sandbox gives you 50 free test captures so you can try it first. For a page behind your own login, use the ProofSnap browser extension.
Quick answer
PageCrawl or ProofSnap?
Both watch a web page and keep a dated record when it changes. PageCrawl starts from alerts: it is a change monitor, and signed web archives come with its Ultimate plan at $999 a year, with eIDAS qualified timestamps by custom quote. ProofSnap starts from the exhibit: on any paid plan, each detected change is captured as the same sealed package a lawyer would file, and you pay per change, not per page watched.
What PageCrawl is
PageCrawl.io is a website change monitoring service from Lithuania that launched in June 2018. Its homepage opens with "Track any web page and get plain-language summaries of what changed." It tracks text, prices, stock status and documents, and sends alerts by email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram, webhooks and more. Pages can be added from the web app, a browser extension, mobile apps, the API or an MCP server.
PageCrawl also sells an evidence layer. According to its Web Archives page, on the Ultimate plan, a detected change on a monitor that is set to archive and checked every 6 hours or less often is saved as a replayable WACZ archive with three attestations: a signature with a Let's Encrypt certificate issued to PageCrawl's monitoring domain, one or more RFC 3161 timestamps from commercial Trust Service Providers, and an OpenTimestamps anchor in Bitcoin.
How PageCrawl is sold
PageCrawl publishes a Free plan and three annual plans on its pricing page: Standard at $160 a year, Enterprise at $300 a year and Ultimate at $999 a year. Web archives are part of Ultimate only. eIDAS qualified timestamps are, in the words of its help article, "a Custom plan add-on," provisioned manually, with a per-stamp cost agreed with sales.
What ProofSnap is
ProofSnap is a forensic web evidence platform, and its monitors perform website change detection and keep a sealed record of every version. The ProofSnap Dashboard and REST API capture a URL on our servers, once or on a schedule, and the browser extension for Chrome and Edge captures what you see in your own logged-in session. Monitoring is a mode of the Dashboard's automated captures, called "On change (monitor)," and you set it up in a form, without writing code.
Checks as often as every 5 minutes
A lightweight check reads the page text at the cadence you choose. Checks that find no change produce no package and are not billed. For a page that loads its content with JavaScript, set the schedule to Fixed interval, so every run makes a full capture.
A full package for every change
When the text changes, ProofSnap makes a full capture: screenshot, HTML, metadata, chain of custody, forensic log, evidence PDF and a signed manifest anchored in Bitcoin.
Alerts with the comparison attached
ProofSnap compares the new capture with the previous one and sends the result by webhook. Choose to be alerted on any change or only on text changes.
eIDAS with one checkbox
Check the eIDAS box and each full capture gets a qualified electronic timestamp from Disig a.s., a Qualified Trust Service Provider on the EU Trusted List, at $1.99 per timestamp.
The step-by-step setup, with the Dashboard screens, is in our guide How to monitor web page changes as evidence.
PageCrawl vs ProofSnap, side by side
As of October 2026. PageCrawl facts come from its own pages, checked on October 26, 2026, and linked in the last row. "Not published" means we could not find the fact in PageCrawl's public documentation, not that the capability is absent.
| Feature | PageCrawl |  ProofSnap |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | Website change monitoring service: web app, browser extension, mobile apps, API and MCP server | Forensic web evidence platform: Dashboard and REST API with monitoring, plus an extension for Chrome and Edge |
| Main job | Alerts when watched pages change, with AI summaries and price and stock tracking | A sealed, verifiable evidence package for every capture, including each detected change |
| What a change produces | Alert and screenshot on every plan; on Ultimate, a WACZ web archive for monitors set to archive and checked every 6 hours or less often | A full evidence package on every paid plan, at any cadence down to 5 minutes; the alert webhook carries a comparison with the previous capture |
| Report for a court | Not published for the web archive; a capture report comes with the free evidence capture tool | Evidence PDF in any of 29 languages, chain of custody modeled on ISO/IEC 27037, forensic log |
| Integrity | SHA-256 of every resource in the WACZ data package, signed with a Let's Encrypt certificate issued to PageCrawl's monitoring domain (Ultimate) | SHA-256 of every file in manifest.json, signed with RSA-4096 |
| Bitcoin anchor | OpenTimestamps on archived changes (Ultimate) | OpenTimestamps on every full capture |
| RFC 3161 timestamp | One or more from commercial Trust Service Providers, on archived changes (Ultimate) | eIDAS qualified timestamp, see the next row |
| eIDAS qualified timestamp | Custom plan add-on, provisioned manually, QTSP and price not published | Disig a.s., Qualified Trust Service Provider on the EU Trusted List, $1.99 per timestamp on any paid plan |
| Alerts | Email, Slack, Teams, Discord, Telegram, webhooks, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets | Webhook with the comparison attached, on any change or only on text changes |
| Pages behind a login | Monitoring of login-protected pages on paid plans | Captured in your own browser session with the extension, including chats and screen recording |
| Verification by the recipient | Public verification page (no account needed), openssl ts, an OpenTimestamps client, ReplayWeb.page | MIT-licensed proofsnap-verify in the browser or as a CLI, verify.sh and verify.ps1 in every package, plus the evidence PDF |
| Pricing model | By number of pages watched, billed annually: $160, $300 or $999 a year | By sealed capture: from $1.49, or $99 a month with 200 included; checks without a change are not billed |
| Getting started | Sign up for the free plan; Custom plan through sales | Sign up in the Dashboard, 50 free test captures in the sandbox, card required for live plans |
| Sources | pagecrawl.io, /pricing, /web-archives, eIDAS help article, /website-evidence-capture, all accessed October 26, 2026; ProofSnap: Dashboard and API pricing and the monitoring guide. | |
How much does PageCrawl cost compared with ProofSnap?
PageCrawl charges by the number of pages you watch. ProofSnap charges by the number of changes it seals. Both columns come from the vendors' own pages as of October 26, 2026.
PageCrawl
- Free: 6 pages, checked every 60 minutes
- Standard: $160 a year, up to 200 pages, every 15 minutes
- Enterprise: $300 a year, up to 500 pages, every 5 minutes
- Ultimate: $999 a year, up to 1,000 pages, every 2 minutes, web archives with RFC 3161 and OpenTimestamps for monitors checked every 6 hours or less often
- eIDAS qualified timestamps: Custom plan add-on, price agreed with sales
ProofSnap Dashboard
- Developer: no monthly fee, $1.49 per capture, up to 3 monitors
- Startup: $99 a month or $990 a year, 200 captures a month included, then $0.60, up to 25 monitors
- Growth: $499 a month or $4,990 a year, 2,000 captures a month included, then $0.40, up to 200 monitors
- Website Archive: $49 a month or $490 a year, 100 captures a month included, then $0.60, up to 30 of your own pages, checked daily
- eIDAS qualified timestamp: $1.99 per timestamp, on any paid plan
Every other plan can check as often as every 5 minutes; Website Archive checks once a day. Checks that find no change are not billed. A card is required for live plans.
Open the DashboardWorked example: one provider's terms of service, watched hourly
Say the terms change four times in a month and you want each version on file as evidence. The first run adds one more capture: the starting version.
ProofSnap Developer
$7.45
first month: five sealed packages at $1.49; then $5.96 a month for four changes
With eIDAS on each
$17.40
first month: five packages and five qualified timestamps at $1.99
PageCrawl with signed archives
$999 a year
the Ultimate plan, the lowest tier with web archives. Archives cover only monitors checked every 6 hours or less often, so an hourly monitor is not archived. eIDAS by custom quote.
The example uses the published prices above. The number of captures depends on how often the page text changes and is capped by the monthly maximum you set.
On ProofSnap's published prices, an hourly monitor on a set of terms that changes four times a month costs $7.45 in the first month and $5.96 in each month after that, about $73 a year, compared with $999 a year for PageCrawl Ultimate, the lowest PageCrawl tier with signed archives, which does not archive hourly monitors.
What you get when a page changes
Each change on a ProofSnap monitor produces one ZIP. A judge reads the PDF; an opposing expert re-checks the hashes, the signature and the timestamps without relying on ProofSnap.
screenshot
The page as rendered, full length if you choose full-page scroll
page.html and text
The page source and its visible text, searchable
metadata.json
HTTP headers, DNS and WHOIS where available
evidence.pdf
A readable report in any of 29 languages
Chain of custody and forensic log
Modeled on ISO/IEC 27037, with every step and page change logged
manifest.json and signature
SHA-256 of every file, signed with RSA-4096
OpenTimestamps proof
Bitcoin anchor of the manifest, on every full capture
eIDAS qualified timestamp
From Disig a.s., when you check the eIDAS box
The alert itself, sent by webhook, carries the comparison with the previous capture, so you see what changed before you open the package.
Want to inspect a real one? Download the sample evidence package (ZIP).
The date on each version
In a dispute about a changed page, the question is what the page said and when. Each ProofSnap package carries two time records, and a third if you want it:
- The capture time, written into the chain of custody and the evidence PDF.
- A Bitcoin anchor through OpenTimestamps. It shows that the manifest existed no later than the time of the Bitcoin block it is anchored in, and anyone can check it against the public chain.
- An eIDAS qualified timestamp (RFC 3161) from Disig a.s., a Qualified Trust Service Provider on the EU Trusted List, at $1.99 when you check the box.
What the eIDAS Regulation says about a qualified timestamp
"A qualified electronic time stamp shall enjoy the presumption of the accuracy of the date and the time it indicates and the integrity of the data to which the date and time are bound."
That is Article 41(2) of the eIDAS Regulation. With ProofSnap, the stamped data is the manifest, which lists the SHA-256 hash of every file in the package, so each version you stamp carries its own qualified date. More on how it works: eIDAS qualified timestamps explained.
Pages behind a login, chats and video
A monitor loads a public URL. Much of what ends up in a dispute is not public: a Facebook group post, a LinkedIn profile seen while logged in, a WhatsApp Web conversation, a supplier portal. The ProofSnap extension for Chrome and Edge captures those pages in your own browser session and seals them into the same kind of package.
- Dedicated capture paths for WhatsApp Web, Telegram Web, Discord, Slack, Messenger, LinkedIn, Facebook post dialogs and Instagram comments.
- A screen recording while you browse, sealed with the rest of the package.
- Multi-tab sessions, where every tab you view gets its own forensic snapshot.
- File certification for documents, photos and exports you already have.
Who can verify the result
A PageCrawl archive can be checked on its public verification page, with openssl ts, with an OpenTimestamps client or in the ReplayWeb.page viewer. A ProofSnap package can be checked file by file with public tools, and anyone can read it as a PDF:
- proofsnap-verify, MIT-licensed, in the browser at the Trust Verifier or on the command line with
npx proofsnap-verify package.zip. It recomputes every hash, checks the RSA signature over manifest.json, replays the Bitcoin proof and validates the eIDAS timestamp against the EU Trusted List. - The evidence PDF itself, which a judge or a client opens like any other document, in the language of the proceedings.
When to choose PageCrawl and when to choose ProofSnap
PageCrawl fits when
- you watch hundreds of pages for market intelligence, prices or stock, and most alerts will never become evidence;
- you want the alerts directly in Slack, Teams, Discord or Telegram;
- a flat yearly price based on the number of pages suits your budget better than a price per change.
ProofSnap fits when
- the change itself is the dispute: an infringing listing, a defamatory article, a competitor's claim, a revised set of terms;
- each version must reach a lawyer, a court or an opposing expert as a readable PDF with a chain of custody;
- you need an eIDAS qualified timestamp at a published price, without a custom plan;
- you watch a handful of pages that matter and want to pay only when they change;
- some of the evidence sits behind a login or in a chat.
Already using PageCrawl for alerts? Keep it. Point a ProofSnap monitor at the few pages that may become evidence, or capture a page with the extension the moment a PageCrawl alert comes in.
What people monitor with ProofSnap
Teams track website changes with ProofSnap when a page may end up in a dispute: pages that change after a cease-and-desist letter or just before the hearing.
Trademark and counterfeit listings
A shop page that uses your brand, sealed before and after the seller edits it. See brand protection evidence.
Defamatory articles and reviews
The wording as published, and every quiet correction afterward, each with its own date.
Competitors' prices and claims
Advertising claims and price displays as they stood on a given day, for unfair-competition disputes.
Terms and policies
Each version of a provider's terms or privacy policy on record. See how to prove what changed on a web page.
Your own website
The Website Archive plan keeps a sealed copy of up to 30 of your own pages whenever the daily check finds changed text.
Case files for law firms
Each monitor carries a case or matter reference into every package, and Legal plans organize captures into matters. See ProofSnap for law firms.
Frequently asked questions
Is ProofSnap a PageCrawl alternative?
For monitoring pages as evidence, yes. PageCrawl is built around change alerts across many pages, with signed web archives on its Ultimate plan. ProofSnap is built around the exhibit: on any paid plan, every detected change becomes a sealed evidence package with an evidence PDF in 29 languages, a chain of custody, a signed SHA-256 manifest and a Bitcoin anchor. For broad market-intelligence alerts across hundreds of pages, PageCrawl is the purpose-built tool.
How is ProofSnap different from Visualping, Distill or other website change detection tools?
Website change detection tools such as Visualping, Distill and PageCrawl are built to tell you that a page changed and to show what changed. A ProofSnap monitor is built to prove it later: each detected change is saved as a sealed evidence package with an evidence PDF, a chain of custody, a signed SHA-256 manifest and a Bitcoin anchor, plus an eIDAS qualified timestamp if you check the box. You can keep your change monitor for alerts and point ProofSnap at the pages that may become evidence.
How much does PageCrawl cost?
As of October 26, 2026, PageCrawl lists a Free plan with 6 pages, Standard at $160 a year, Enterprise at $300 a year and Ultimate at $999 a year. Web archives with RFC 3161 and OpenTimestamps attestations are part of Ultimate, for monitors checked every 6 hours or less often. eIDAS qualified timestamps are a Custom plan add-on whose price is agreed with sales.
How much does monitoring cost with ProofSnap?
You pay for the captures a monitor makes, not for the checks. On the Developer plan each capture is $1.49 with no monthly fee and up to 3 monitors; Startup is $99 a month with 200 captures included and up to 25 monitors; Growth is $499 a month with 2,000 included and up to 200 monitors. Checks that find no change are not billed. An eIDAS qualified timestamp adds $1.99 per capture.
How often does a ProofSnap monitor check a page?
As often as every 5 minutes, or every 15 or 30 minutes, hourly, every 6 hours, daily or weekly. The Website Archive plan checks your own pages once a day. You can also ask for a full capture at least every 30, 90, 180 or 365 days, even when nothing has changed, so a fresh dated copy is always on file.
Does every detected change get an eIDAS qualified timestamp?
When you check the eIDAS box on the monitor, yes. Each full capture then carries a qualified electronic timestamp from Disig a.s., a Qualified Trust Service Provider on the EU Trusted List, at $1.99 per timestamp. Under the EU eIDAS Regulation, a qualified timestamp enjoys a presumption that its date and time are accurate and that the data it is bound to is intact.
Can a judge open the result without special software?
Yes. Every ProofSnap package contains evidence.pdf, a readable report of the capture in any of 29 languages. The technical files next to it, such as the signed manifest and the timestamp proofs, are there for an expert who wants to re-check them with the open-source proofsnap-verify tool.
Can ProofSnap capture pages behind a login?
Yes, with the ProofSnap extension for Chrome and Edge, in your own logged-in browser session. It has dedicated capture paths for WhatsApp Web, Telegram Web, Discord, Slack, Messenger, LinkedIn, Facebook post dialogs and Instagram comments, and can record the screen while it captures. Monitors in the Dashboard watch public URLs.
Can I use PageCrawl and ProofSnap together?
Yes. Keep PageCrawl for broad alerts, and point a ProofSnap monitor at the few pages that may become evidence, or capture a page with the ProofSnap extension the moment an alert arrives. Nothing has to be migrated.
Author: Radim Motycka, founder and lead engineer of ProofSnap, who built the Dashboard, the API monitoring and the evidence package format.
First published: October 26, 2026. Last updated and checked: October 26, 2026.
Method: Every PageCrawl fact is taken from PageCrawl's own public pages, linked where cited, and accessed on October 26, 2026. ProofSnap facts are checked against the product itself.
Watch the page. Keep every version as evidence.
Set up a monitor in the ProofSnap Dashboard in a few minutes, or capture a page in your own browser with the extension.