head to head · open source
changedetection.io vs dots
changedetection.io has 34,829 GitHub stars, 2,121 forks, 385 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dots has 31,817 stars, 4,695 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped today. changedetection.io leads on adoption by 9% (34,829 vs 31,817 stars). changedetection.io is written in Python under Apache-2.0; dots is written in TypeScript under MIT. changedetection.io has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, dots 15%. dots was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| changedetection.io | dots | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 32K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 4.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick changedetection.io if
- You weight community size — 35K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dots if
- You want the dots feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and dots fits your workflow better
About changedetection.io
changedetection.io is an open source website change detection and web page monitoring tool written in Python and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It watches URLs, detects when their content changes, and sends alerts through channels such as Discord, Email, Slack, Telegram, and Webhook. The project lives in the Data & Analytics / Data Extraction & Web Scraping ecosystem, carries more than 34,000 stars and 2,000 forks on GitHub, and has been developed for roughly six years. It is designed to be self hosted, and the same codebase also backs a hosted subscription service offered by the maintainers.…
read the full changedetection.io overview →
About dots
dots is an open source AI web agent that ships with its own anti detect Firefox browser, aimed at developers and automation engineers who need an agent to browse, log in and click through real websites without being blocked.
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Frequently asked questions
Is changedetection.io or dots more popular?
changedetection.io has 34,829 GitHub stars and dots has 31,817. changedetection.io has the larger community by that measure.
Are changedetection.io and dots free?
Both are open source. changedetection.io is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dots under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between changedetection.io and dots?
changedetection.io is written in Python and dots in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, changedetection.io or dots?
Choose changedetection.io if you want the larger community (34,829 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dots if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.