Hi, I'm Simon, and I made Domain Watchman to help you keep track of your currently owned domain names and also to help you discover new ones.

It all started a few years ago when I nearly missed the renewal period for one of my domain names. My domains were registered across various registrars because of the different pricing and TLD availability. When it was time to renew a domain name, I received an alert from the registrar, but it happened only once and ended up in the spam folder. Thankfully, I have a habit of checking the spam folder once in a while, so I found the message when it wasn't too late to renew the domain name.

Following this, I built a Linux shell script to monitor all my domain names and send frequent emails and Slack messages about upcoming expiration dates. Adding or removing domains from such a monitoring tool wasn't very convenient, but it did the job.

At the end of 2021, MongoDB, in cooperation with DEV.to, launched a hackathon to promote their new cloud-hosted database called MongoDB Atlas. They invited developers to build applications using their new database and win prizes. I decided to participate in the hackathon and made a single-page application backed by cloud functions and the MongoDB Atlas database. I won only some DEV.to swag, but it was still worth it because I learned something new and rebuilt the old domain monitoring tool into something better. The source code of my entry to the hackathon and instructions on how to self-host it on MongoDB Atlas can be found on a GitHub repository here.

In the autumn of 2022, I rebuilt the tool again. This time I made it run on AWS, added more features and launched it as a service for people who don't want the hassle of hosting it themselves. My goal is to create an easy-to-use, feature-rich, and affordable tool to monitor domain name changes.

You can reach me via Twitter or email.