Question 1

What does IT Watch monitor?

Accepted Answer

IT Watch runs four check types for each domain you add: SSL certificate expiry, domain renewal date (via WHOIS), HTTP uptime, and DNS record changes. Every monitor gets all four checks — you don't choose between them.

Question 2

How often are checks run?

Accepted Answer

Uptime checks run on your plan's schedule: daily on Free, every 15 minutes on Solo, and every 5 minutes on Agency. SSL, domain expiry, and DNS checks run daily for all plans — more frequent checks wouldn't change the expiry dates, and DNS changes are caught within 24 hours.

Question 3

What is the free plan?

Accepted Answer

The free plan monitors 3 domains with daily uptime checks and full SSL, domain, and DNS monitoring. No credit card required. You can upgrade to Solo ($9/month) or Agency ($29/month) any time.

Question 4

How will I be notified when something needs attention?

Accepted Answer

Email alerts are available on all plans. Slack and webhook alerts are available on Solo and Agency plans. Every alert shows the domain, check type, current severity, and the number of days remaining (for expiry alerts).

Question 5

How far in advance will I be alerted about SSL or domain expiry?

Accepted Answer

The alert ladder fires once at each of these thresholds: 30, 14, 7, 3, and 1 day before expiry. You get five separate warnings. Each alert auto-resolves when the cert or domain is renewed — no manual clearing needed.

Question 6

What is the alert ladder?

Accepted Answer

The ladder is IT Watch's advance-warning system. For any monitored expiry (SSL cert or domain), alerts fire once at 30 days, again at 14, again at 7, again at 3, and again at 1 day before expiry. The ladder ensures you have five chances to act before anything breaks. Alerts auto-resolve when renewed.

Question 7

Can I use IT Watch to monitor client sites I manage?

Accepted Answer

Yes. IT Watch is designed for agencies and freelancers managing sites they don't own. You add domains to your account and IT Watch monitors them. You can also monitor sites you do own — there's no difference from IT Watch's perspective.

Question 8

What happens if a site I'm monitoring goes down?

Accepted Answer

IT Watch uses two-strike confirmation before alerting on downtime: the check must fail twice in a row to trigger an alert. This prevents false alarms from transient network blips. When confirmed down, you receive an alert immediately. When the site recovers, the alert auto-resolves.

Question 9

How does DNS change detection work?

Accepted Answer

IT Watch queries both Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and Google (8.8.8.8) DNS resolvers for each monitored domain and stores a hash of the records as a baseline. If any A, CNAME, MX, or NS record changes, IT Watch alerts you. You can acknowledge expected changes to stop the alert, or leave it open to keep tracking.

Question 10

What happens when I exceed my plan's monitor limit?

Accepted Answer

Adding monitors beyond your plan's limit is blocked with an upgrade prompt. If you downgrade, excess monitors are paused (not deleted), newest first. You can reactivate paused monitors after upgrading or by removing others.

Question 11

Can I cancel or change my plan at any time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Plans are billed monthly with no long-term commitment. Downgrade, upgrade, or cancel from the Settings page. If you cancel, monitoring continues until the end of your billing period.

Question 12

Does IT Watch integrate with Slack?

Accepted Answer

Slack and webhook alerts are available on the Solo ($9/month) and Agency ($29/month) plans. You can add a Slack webhook URL in Settings → Alert channels. The free plan uses email only.

Frequently asked questions