Hexowatch Explained: The Most Common Questions, Clearly Answered
If you are evaluating Hexowatch or already using it, the same core questions keep coming up. What exactly does it monitor. How reliable is it. What breaks it. When do you need premium credits. Let’s go through the real questions, clearly and practically.
1. What is Hexowatch actually built for?
Hexowatch monitors changes on websites.
Not traffic.
Not rankings.
Not analytics.
It tracks specific page-level changes and alerts you when something changes.
Typical use cases:
• Competitor price changes
• Content edits on landing pages
• New job postings
• Legal or policy updates
• Product availability
• Visual layout changes
• Lost backlinks detected
• Changes in technology stack
• Domain ownership or Whois record changes
• New pages added to sitemap
• API response changes
• Keyword additions or removals on a page
It runs on defined monitoring types, such as:
• HTML element monitoring
• Visual monitoring
• Keyword monitoring
• API monitoring
• Technology stack changes
• Whois records
• Backlink monitoring
• Sitemap monitoring
The key point: Hexowatch monitors page structure and content, not opinions or interpretations.
2. How reliable is it?
Reliability depends on two things:
The monitoring type you select
The stability of the target page structure
If you use:
• HTML element monitoring on a stable page structure, reliability is very high.
• Visual monitoring on dynamic pages, false positives will occur.
When the underlying DOM structure changes, even if the page looks visually the same, an HTML-based monitor can break.
That is not a bug. It is how the web works. Also, there are many cases when the website loads differently in the emulated browser rather than your regular browser. This is also something that we do not control, but it usually happens with old websites or ones that do not optimize for different screen sizes.
If the page structure changes, the monitor must be rebuilt.
3. Why did my monitor stop working?
This is one of the most common questions.
It usually happens because:
• The website changed its structure
• The website added bot protection
• The website server timed out
• The website started rate limiting
Website changes do not matter. What matters is the exact page structure used when the monitor was created.
If that structure changes, the template must be recreated.
4. When are premium credits required?
Premium credits are needed only in specific cases:
• When residential proxies are required, otherwise the server blocks bot access
• When you want the website to be loaded as in a specific region
Standard monitoring runs without premium credits.
5. Does Hexowatch bypass website protections?
No system can universally bypass all protection.
Some websites use:
• Cloudflare protection
• CAPTCHA systems
• Rate limiting
• Geo restrictions
• Login requirements
In such cases, additional configuration may be required, including residential proxies, a full stack browser, or enabling the Hexowatch user agent if you control the website.
Even then, access is not guaranteed. Only website owners control access to their infrastructure.
6. Can Hexowatch monitor password-protected pages?
Yes, but only when properly configured.
You can monitor:
• Pages behind login
• Private dashboards
• Member-only content
However, session expiration, 2FA, or login changes can break monitors.
If a site requires constant manual verification, it may not be suitable for automated monitoring.
7. How often can it check pages?
Monitoring frequency depends on your plan.
Higher-tier plans allow more frequent checks.
However, increasing frequency does not always improve results. Some sites rate limit aggressive checking.
Monitoring every 15 minutes on a fragile site can lead to blocks.
The smarter approach is matching frequency to real business need.
8. What is the difference between Visual and HTML element monitoring?
HTML element monitoring:
• Tracks specific elements
• Very precise
• Breaks if structure changes
Visual monitoring:
• Tracks screenshots
• Can trigger alerts for minor visual shifts
Use HTML element when you need precision.
Use Visual when you need to track any pixel on the page.
9. Can Hexowatch scrape data?
Hexowatch is not primarily a scraping tool.
For heavy data extraction workflows, Hexomatic is more appropriate.
Hexowatch focuses on change detection and monitoring.
10. Why am I getting false positives?
Common causes:
• Dynamic timestamps
• Rotating banners
• Ads
• Session-based elements
• Minor CSS shifts
Web pages are not static documents. Many are dynamically rendered with JavaScript.
Reducing false positives requires selecting stable elements and ignoring dynamic regions.
Hexowatch works extremely well when:
• The right monitoring type is chosen
• The target page structure is stable
• Expectations align with how websites actually function
It is not magic.
It does not override site security.
It does not prevent websites from changing.
It monitors defined page structures and alerts when those structures change.
That is the job.
Concierge and Custom Support
If you want help creating monitors correctly from the beginning, auditing your current setup, or maintaining templates when websites change, we offer concierge service and custom paid support.
You can book a one-time Concierge Session here:
https://calendly.com/hexact/concierge-service-hexact