Have you noticed your monthly expenses increasing? If you’re like many Canadians, you’ve likely felt the effects of inflation combined with the increasing costs of consumer goods.
Using price comparison sites is a great way to give your budget some much-needed breathing room. These price comparison tools allow users to compare prices, view price history, and even get real-time alerts when items go on sale or prices drop.
Below, I’ll share some of the best price tracker websites in Canada so you can get the best deals and save money on your everyday expenses.
How Do Price Comparison Sites Work?
Comparison shopping is a strategy that involves comparing prices from multiple retailers in an effort to find the best deals. You may already do this with your groceries and gas. You may have a favourite gas station that usually has lower fuel prices or know a local farmer’s market where you can get low-cost produce.
Price comparison sites operate on the same principles.
Essentially, each price comparison tool is a search engine that aggregates all of the latest prices from top online retailers so you can find the lowest prices on whatever you’re looking for. Many price comparison sites have intuitive features that allow you to:
- Factor shipping costs into the search
- Receive real-time price alerts when there’s a lower price
- Apply popular coupon codes to purchases
- View product features and product descriptions at a glance
- Compare the current prices from various retailers
- View historical prices so you can predict the best time of the year to buy
At any given time, there may be hundreds of online retailers competing and selling the same exact product. If you’re looking for specific brands or big-ticket items, a price tracking tool can be an invaluable resource that can save you hundreds of dollars or more.
Price Matching vs Comparison Sites: What’s Different?
Price matching is a policy offered by some retailers that allows customers to purchase items at the same price as a competitor.
For example, let’s say that your local IGA supermarket sells your favourite brand of cereal for a lower price than you find at Save-On-Foods. You could pull up IGA’s ad for the product at the register in Save-On-Foods and buy the same product for cheaper.
- Read More: Top Stores For Price Matching In Canada
Price matching almost always applies exclusively to retail shopping at brick-and-mortar establishments (although a few online stores may offer something similar).
Price comparison sites, on the other hand, are specifically designed to help you find the best deals while shopping online. It’s a lot easier than in-store price matching, as you can compare prices from online retailers in real time, side-by-side, based on your individual search engine filters.
The Best Price Comparison Sites In Canada: Listed
Looking for a conclusive list of the best price comparison websites in Canada? I’ve got you covered.
The next time you find yourself in need of a price comparison tool, be sure to give one of these comparison sites a try. They’re all 100% free to use, so there’s no strings attached!
1. Google Shopping
- Try It Out: shopping.google.ca
Google Shopping is a specialized search engine service offered by Google that allows users to search for product listings across multiple online shopping websites, including individual retailers and large online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and more.
It’s easily the most popular price comparison site in the world.
All of this saves you valuable time that you’d otherwise have to spend visiting each individual website and trying to find the best deal.
- Fun Fact – When Google Shopping was launched in 2002, it was officially called “Froogle“
When you search for a product, Google Shopping aggregates the latest price data from multiple merchants, showing you various options sorted by price, brand, and other attributes that you can filter for. Alongside each result, you’ll also find a direct link to the merchant’s website, allowing you to purchase the product.
Unlike many other price comparison sites, which tend to be a bit spammy and heavy on pop-up ads, Google Shopping has an incredibly clean user interface that’s simple and easy to use.
Whenever you find listings that fit your needs, you can save them to your Google account, where you can come back to them later.
The main downside to Google Shopping is that it doesn’t include any data on historical prices, which could be useful if you’re looking for price trends.
- View the latest prices from every online retailer listed on Google’s search engine
- You can easily save results to your Google account without having to create a new profile on a new app
- No pop-ups
- Filter results with great accuracy
- Look for specific brands and keywords
- Set alerts for price drops and enable price tracking for selected items
- Doesn’t offer historical price data
- Sponsored results show up first, which can skew product listings
2. PriceFinder
- Try It Out: pricefinder.ca
PriceFinder.ca is a great tool if you’re searching for the best deals on electronics like desktop computers, laptops, and miscellaneous gaming or hardware components.
Its homepage showcases featured price drops, serving as a quick guide to the best deals available at any given time.
While I’ve found it particularly useful for finding deals on tech, you can use the search engine to find the latest deals on clothing, home goods, pet supplies, and everything in between.
Unlike global juggernauts like Google Shopping, PriceFinder.ca takes a different approach – it doesn’t pit retailers against each other in a side-by-side price war. Instead, it focuses on presenting featured price drops.
This can be a little easier on the eyes than the thousands of results aggregated by Google Shopping and allows you to see the most recent drops.
- Excellent for finding deals on tech and computer gear
- Clean, fast user interface
- Sort results by key retailers
- Shows you the most recent price drops on items instead of side-by-side price comparisons from competitors
- If you’re looking for a side-by-side price comparison, this isn’t the best tool
3. Amazon Canada
- Try It Out: amazon.ca
While not designed as a price comparison app, Amazon effectively functions as one, given its global reach and the sheer volume of products.
It’s a vast online marketplace that offers products from both Amazon itself and third-party sellers, from large retailers to smaller individual merchants.
Amazon’s diverse seller ecosystem encourages competition, as sellers constantly try to offer the best deals on the same product, whether it’s brand-new, used, or refurbished. Amazon Prime members may also get select pricing, which can help you save even more.
When you search for a specific item, Amazon aggregates listings, allowing you to easily compare prices, shipping options, and customer reviews (this is a big one, as it can tell you a lot about a merchant’s overall customer service).
- Search for specific brands and filter by price
- Peace of mind offered by Amazon’s customer support system
- Prime members may receive additional savings and get free one or two-day shipping
- Compare the same product offered by multiple Canadian retailers
- No pop-up ads or spam
- Amazon isn’t specifically designed as a price comparison tool
- Amazon doesn’t show historical price data (although it will show recent price cuts)
4. ShopZilla
- Try It Out: shopzilla.com
ShopZilla is a comprehensive price comparison engine that allows users to search for deals on electronics, clothing, home goods, and more.
What sets ShopZilla apart from other price aggregators are its helpful features, such as advanced filters and the ability to refine search by customer reviews.
ShopZilla is actually one of the oldest price comparison sites on the internet. The London, UK-based company was launched in 1996, six years before Google Shopping launched.
- Makes it easy to search for items by category
- Clean user interface
- Search for prices from top retailers
- ShopZilla doesn’t have as many filter options as other price comparison sites
5. CamelCamelCamel
- Try It Out: camelcamelcamel.com
Although it’s not a large-scale price comparison website like Google Shopping, CamelCamelCamel offers a highly focused service by allowing users to monitor price changes on Amazon products.
When you input a specific Amazon URL or product keyword, CamelCamelCamel shows you a detailed price history, giving you the insights needed to make a well-timed purchase.
The platform’s user-friendly interface is refreshingly straightforward, without intrusive ads or complicated settings.
It allows for real-time alerts, so you’re immediately notified of price drops, ensuring you never miss a great deal.
- Allows you to track prices on Amazon
- Set price alerts when Amazon products drop in price
- See detailed price history for Amazon products
- Free to use
- Doesn’t allow you to track prices from other online retailers
6. Walmart Online
- Try It Out: walmart.ca
Walmart’s online platform isn’t a traditional price comparison engine. However, like Amazon, it offers a similar utility for shoppers and has been directly competing to win over Amazon Prime customers.
What’s interesting about Walmart’s online platform is that it supports third-party sellers in addition to the products and brands you’ll find offered by Walmart. In some cases, the third-party sellers on the platform could offer even better deals than Walmart itself.
- Allows you to compare prices from Walmart and third-party sellers
- You may find even better deals on Walmart’s platform than Amazon
- You won’t find as many deals from large online retailers – just Walmart and smaller merchants on the platform
7. Price Dropper
- Try It Out: pricedropper.ca
Price Dropper is one of the largest online price comparison websites in Canada. You can choose to search and compare prices for select categories (i.e. “3D printers” or “dehumidifiers”) or search for sales on top-selling items from major Canadian retailers like Costco, Home Depot, NewEgg, and The Bay.
Price Dropper allows you to see historical low prices offered by major retailers and the latest price and price cuts offered by the same major retailers. You can also track prices and set alerts when they drop.
Unlike Google Shopping, which aggregates product listings from thousands of online retailers, Price Dropper primarily focuses on comparing prices from big-name retailers.
This can be particularly useful if you prefer to shop at the same retailers in person, as you can research prices before entering the store.
- See historical prices from major retailers
- Search by specific categories or filter by major retailers
- Great for shopping online or if you plan on price matching in person
- Not as cluttered as Google Shopping
- Not good if you plan on deal hunting with smaller retailers
8. Price Grabber
- Try It Out: pricegrabber.com
Price Grabber has a nearly identical user interface to the PriceFinder platform that I mentioned above.
You can search for individual products by keyword or select broader categories. Price Grabber also offers a free weekly newsletter if you’re interested in getting regular emails with noteworthy deals.
Personally, I think Price Grabber’s website is a bit outdated and clunky. After experimenting with it, I also found that the search results aren’t always 100% accurate, and some items may be listed in inaccurate categories.
That being said, it’s still a decent resource to keep on your list if you aren’t having luck with other platforms.
- You can find results from obscure sellers
- Search results aren’t always accurate
- Lots of ads
- Outdated website
9. PriceBat
- Try It Out: pricebat.ca
Unlike most price comparison websites, which allow you to track a wide variety of products, brands, and categories, PriceBat specifically focuses on aggregating price data for computers and electronics from Canadian retailers.
If you’re looking for a good deal on a new laptop, iPad, phone, or gaming equipment, this tool can help you find some great deals.
One of the features I really like about PriceBat is that it also aggregates customer reviews from multiple platforms, allowing you to see what customers are saying on Amazon, eBay, and other online stores offering the same product.
- Focuses on computer and electronics price listings
- Aggregates customer reviews from multiple platforms
- Doesn’t allow you to compare non-electronics categories
10. RedFlagDeals
- Try It Out: redflagdeals.com
RedFlagDeals is a community-driven platform where users can find and share the best deals and coupons across a variety of categories. Unlike traditional price comparison engines, RedFlagDeals incorporates social elements, allowing users to discuss, review, and even vote on the quality of deals.
The platform’s user-friendly interface is designed to streamline bargain hunting by presenting a curated list of hot deals and popular threads based on your recent search history.
RedFlagDeals was founded in 2000 and remains one of Canada’s longest-standing price comparison platforms. Despite being over two decades old, it still has a very active user base, especially in larger cities.
- Community-driven platform that allows users to share and review deals
- Curated product listings and deals based on your recent search history
- Active user base
- More advertisements and pop-ups than I’d like
Bonus: PolicyMe (Compare Quotes For Critical Illness And Life Insurance)
- Try It Out: Get your personalized quote
- Quotes Offered For: Critical illness insurance, term life insurance, whole life insurance, mortgage life insurance
Purchasing term life insurance and critical illness insurance is a financially savvy choice that can give both you and your loved ones peace of mind. However, with so many different insurance agencies on the market today, it can be difficult to find a policy that fits both your budget and personal needs.
PolicyMe offers low-cost policies underwritten by its partner, Canadian Premier Life Insurance.
However, the platform also aggregates quotes from other major insurance providers like Manulife, Desjardins, and others, so you can feel confident in your decision.
- Learn more: PolicyMe Critical Illness Insurance Review
Conclusion – What’s The Best Price Comparison Site Overall?
From my personal experience, I’d have to say that Google Shopping is, by far, the most comprehensive price comparison site. I like how it easily integrates with your existing Google profile and offers a huge breadth of custom filters to help you find the best deals.
If you’re looking for local deals, RedFlagDeals is also worth checking out. I really appreciate the community aspect of it and how it allows users to rate and review deals in their local cities.
When it comes to computers and high-ticket electronics, I often prefer to shop in person to test the products and get a feel for them before buying them. Keep on reading to see my favourite brick-and-mortar computer stores!
