Best price tracker: comparison and criteria to choose the right one

The best price tracker depends on where you shop and how many products you watch. For Amazon only, Keepa or CamelCamelCamel do the job very well. For products listed on comparison sites, the alerts from idealo or leDénicheur are free and effective. If you want to follow specific product pages at several retailers, with clear advice on when to buy and alerts that ignore fake discounts, a link-based price tracker is the most convenient option.

How to choose a price tracker: the criteria

Before comparing brand names, ask the right questions. This table sums up the criteria that make a difference day to day.

Criterion	Why it matters	Question to ask
Retailers covered	An Amazon-only tool won't help when you buy elsewhere	Where do I actually shop?
Price history	Without history, you can't tell whether today's price is low	Is the history dated, and since when?
Alert types	An alert for every tiny drop ends up being ignored	Can I set a target price?
Price reading	A raw chart needs interpreting	Does the tool tell me if it's a good time?
Fake discounts	A crossed-out price may be based on an inflated price	Does it compare with the usual price?
Number of products	One big purchase and twenty wish-list items need different things	How many products will I track?
Ease of use	An overly technical tool is quickly abandoned	Is it clear and usable on mobile?
Business model	Free, freemium or subscription: each has trade-offs	What's included, and at what price?

The main types of price trackers

Amazon-specific trackers

Keepa and CamelCamelCamel work with Amazon, including Amazon.fr. They show a product's price history and send alerts. CamelCamelCamel is free; Keepa is freemium, with advanced features behind a subscription. Their limit is simple: they only track Amazon. Our Keepa vs CamelCamelCamel comparison covers the differences.

Comparison sites with alerts

idealo and leDénicheur add price history and alerts to their retailer comparison, for free. They are a great option for well-listed products. Limits: you only follow the comparator's partner retailers, and leDénicheur says Amazon prices are not included in its history. See our guide to the best price comparison sites.

Browser extensions

Plenty of extensions offer to track the price of the page you're viewing. They are handy but vary in quality: check who publishes them, what data they collect and whether they work on the sites you use. According to Google's help pages, Chrome's built-in price tracking is not currently offered in France.

Link-based, multi-retailer trackers

You paste a product page address, and the tool checks its price regularly, builds a history and alerts you. The benefit: you follow the exact offer you care about, including at a retailer that comparison sites don't list. This is the category UniverTrack belongs to.

Pros and cons of each type of tool

Type of tool	Pros	Cons	Best for
Amazon tracker (Keepa, CamelCamelCamel)	Often long Amazon history, alerts, free options	Amazon only, sometimes technical interface	Regular Amazon shoppers
Comparison site with alerts (idealo, leDénicheur)	Free, several retailers, history on the product page	Partner retailers only, no personalised buying advice	Widely listed products (tech, appliances)
Browser extension	One-click tracking from the page	Variable quality and privacy, often tied to one browser	Occasional tracking
Link-based tracker (UniverTrack)	Exact offer tracked, good-time indicator, target-price or genuine-drop alerts, grouped product pages	Paid after the trial; outside Amazon, history starts the day you begin tracking	Planned purchases, deal hunting, comparing retailers

Free or paid price tracker?

Free options are often enough for a one-off Amazon purchase or a product widely listed on comparison sites. A paid tool makes sense when you track many products across several retailers and want a clear verdict rather than charts to decode. Our guide to free vs paid price tracking walks through the reasoning.

The real cost of a patched-together "free" setup is time: juggling an Amazon extension, a comparison site for everything else and manual checks for retailers nobody covers. And the drops you miss once you stop checking.

Common mistakes when picking a price tracker

• Choosing by brand name rather than by retailer: the best Amazon tool is useless if your purchase is at another shop.
• Tracking too late: start a few weeks before a planned purchase or a big sales event, so you know the usual price when the "deals" arrive.
• Setting alerts on every drop: you'll get too many emails and end up ignoring the one that matters. A target price is more useful.
• Trusting the crossed-out price: compare with the history, not with the reference price shown by the retailer.
• Not testing first: try the tool on a product you really want to buy, and check the alerts arrive and are easy to act on.

UniverTrack: what it does and what it doesn't

To be transparent, here is exactly what the tool covers.

• What it does: you paste a product link (Amazon, with price history, Cdiscount, and other retailer sites on a best-effort basis). The price is checked automatically, a dated history builds up, an indicator shows when it's a good time to buy, and you get an email when your target price is reached.
• From the Malin plan: fake-discount detection and an AI buying assistant to answer your questions about a product. See our page on the fake discount detector.
• From the Pro plan: if you add the same product from several retailers, offers are grouped on one product page with the best offer highlighted, and you can see the Amazon price by country.
• What it doesn't do: it doesn't automatically search every shop for your product, and it has no official integration with Fnac, Darty or Boulanger (their pages are read on a best-effort basis). Outside Amazon, the history starts the day you begin tracking.

Which plan fits the way you shop?

Your profile	Suitable plan	Why
One or two big purchases to plan	Découverte (€3.99/month)	Up to 10 products, history, good-time indicator, email alerts
Several wish-list items, worried about fake deals	Malin (€6.99/month)	Up to 50 products, fake-discount detection, AI assistant
Same product at several retailers	Pro (€12.99/month)	Up to 200 products, grouped offers, Amazon price by country
Heavy tracking, stock shortages	Expert (€19.99/month)	Unlimited products, all alerts including back in stock, priority support

Yearly billing gives you 2 months free. Weighing it up against Keepa? Our Keepa alternative page compares both approaches.

Put it into practice: try price tracking in 3 steps

1. Paste the link of the product you want to buy: a preview and the current price appear.
2. Set a target price a little below the usual price. Our guide to setting a price drop alert explains how to choose it.
3. Get the email alert when the price reaches it, and buy then.

For a planned purchase, start with Découverte; if you track lots of products or worry about fake discounts, Malin is the best balance. Compare plans on the pricing page: each one starts with a 14-day free trial, no commitment, cancel in one click.