When should I use realtime, hourly or daily?
Every plan includes unlimited hourly and daily monitoring. Realtime monitors watch sources continuously, are designed to alert within seconds, and are capped: Starter 1, Pro 3, Ultra 10.
Most topics do not need realtime. A mine-permit process, a weekly storage report, or a policy docket is better on hourly or daily. Reserve realtime for subjects where seconds matter: named officials posting, outage wires, or a channel that regularly moves a price in the session.
If a realtime monitor is quiet for days, move it to hourly and free the slot for something that actually breaks.
A simple rule
- Realtime: you would wake up or leave a meeting for this alert.
- Hourly: you want it the same morning or afternoon, not overnight.
- Daily: a briefing-style check is enough; you will read it with coffee or at the close.
Plan limits
Hourly and daily never consume a realtime slot. If you hit the realtime cap, convert a low-value realtime monitor to hourly rather than upgrading only for the slot. Upgrade when you have several subjects that truly need seconds-level alerts.