Marketplace alerts from your computer to your phone
Yes: Pouncify is a free Windows and macOS app that watches Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp and Kijiji from your own computer and sends each new match to the free iPhone or Android app, Telegram, email or Discord within minutes of the listing going up. No account, no marketplace login required to start.
Can you get marketplace alerts on a computer?
Yes, with a desktop app; the marketplaces' own alerts are built for their phone apps and your inbox. Craigslist's saved-search alerts arrive by email, Kijiji's by email or as a push notification in its app, OfferUp saves a search as an alert inside its app, and Facebook's Marketplace notifications are toggles in your Facebook notification settings. Pouncify runs in the background on the computer you already have switched on, checks your searches at the pace you set, and sends each match to your phone wherever you are.
How does a desktop marketplace alert app work?
You install it once, tell it what you are hunting, pick where alerts should go, and it checks the marketplaces during the hours you choose while your computer is on. A Pouncify search is a few words, a price range, a location and a radius, and one search covers every marketplace in your region. Only a genuinely new listing becomes an alert; a stale repost surfacing late is recognised and kept quiet.
Alerts go to the free Pouncify app on your iPhone or Android phone, Telegram, email, Discord, or several at once. The listings are stored on your computer, sortable by freshness, price and distance, with each item's price history and badges for wanted ads and likely scams.
Which marketplaces can one search watch?
Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp and Kijiji, limited to the ones that serve your country: Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist wherever they operate, OfferUp in the United States, Kijiji in Canada. None of the four needs an account, and Facebook's optional sign-in is the only login the app offers.
| Marketplace | Where | Account needed? | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Marketplace | Everywhere it operates | No; signing in is optional | City-level, in your unit |
| Craigslist | Everywhere Craigslist operates | No | Exact, in your unit |
| OfferUp | United States | No | City-level, miles |
| Kijiji | Canada | No | Exact, kilometres |
"Your unit" is miles in the United States and kilometres in Canada. Craigslist and Kijiji publish a listing's coordinates, so their distances are exact; Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp publish the listing's city, so those are measured from the city centre. Every search has a radius, and only listings inside it alert you.
Is there a free marketplace alert app?
Yes. Pouncify's free plan watches one search per marketplace, with alerts on every channel, no account and no card; the phone apps for iPhone and Android are free as well. The paid plan adds more searches, around-the-clock checking and a pace of your own, bought inside the desktop app.
Does a marketplace alert app need your Facebook login?
No. Pouncify watches Facebook Marketplace without a login, and login is optional; Craigslist, OfferUp and Kijiji need no login either. If you choose to sign in to Facebook, you type your password into Facebook's own login page inside a browser window on your computer, and the session stays there. Signing in finds more, fresher listings over a bigger radius. More on Marketplace alerts without handing anyone your Facebook login.
What does an alert include?
The listing's photo, its price, how far it is from your search's location, the posting time the marketplace shows, and a link straight to the listing. A price drop on an item you are watching pings you too; a delete-and-repost at a new price is recognised in many cases, and the same item posted three times shows up once, with its history.
Who is it for?
Anyone hunting for something specific on a local marketplace, in any category: a sofa for a first apartment, a stroller, a camera body, an e-bike, a standing desk, a kayak, a game console, power tools, or a car. A laptop open for work, a desktop in the study or a Mac mini that stays on does the watching, and the alert reaches your phone wherever you are.
How to set it up
- Install Pouncify on your Windows or macOS computer from the download page; the first-run checklist walks you through the rest.
- Add a search: the words you are hunting, a price range, your location and a radius. One search covers every marketplace in your region.
- Pick where alerts go: pair the free iPhone or Android app by scanning the QR code the desktop app shows, or connect Telegram, email or Discord.
- Choose the hours and switch the schedule on. Each new match lands on your phone within minutes while your computer is on and awake.
The same steps on screen: the five-minute set-up video on the download page.
Questions
Is there an app that sends instant marketplace alerts?
Pouncify alerts you within minutes of a listing going up: it checks each marketplace at the pace you choose during your active hours, and a new match goes to your phone as soon as a check finds it.
Can I get marketplace alerts on my iPhone or Android phone?
Yes. The free Pouncify apps for iPhone and Android pair with the desktop app by scanning a QR code once, then receive push alerts and let you check listings and pause a search from anywhere. Telegram, email and Discord alerts work on any phone as well.
Does it work on a Mac?
Yes. Pouncify runs on macOS 13 or later (Apple Silicon or Intel) and on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and sits in the menu bar or tray.
Does the computer have to stay on?
Pouncify watches whenever your computer is on and awake during the hours you choose, and the alerts go to your phone, so you can be anywhere.
Download Pouncify Free to start · no account · Windows and macOS
Other guides: Facebook Marketplace alerts · Craigslist alerts · OfferUp alerts · Kijiji alerts · all guides.