Pouncify
How-to

How to set up Facebook Marketplace alerts on your phone (2026)

By the Pouncify team · Published

You want new Facebook Marketplace listings on your phone as soon as they appear. Pouncify does that from your computer. Five steps, as a video or written out below.

Pouncify is a free Windows and macOS app that watches Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp and Kijiji from your own computer and sends every new listing that matches your search to your phone, Telegram, email or Discord, within minutes of it going live.

Video thumbnail: Facebook Marketplace Alerts, See New Listings First, a Pouncify set-up walkthrough showing a listing alert on a phone
  1. 0:36Install
  2. 1:00Facebook login (optional)
  3. 1:21Add a search
  4. 1:50Pace and hours
  5. 2:11Notifications, pair your phone
  6. 3:12Keep the computer awake
  7. 3:38Choose your plan
  8. 3:57The first listings
  9. 4:08Fix a wrong alert
  10. 4:34The first alert on your phone

What you need

A Windows or Mac computer that stays on while you want alerts, and a phone: the free Pouncify app for iPhone or Android, or Telegram. Pouncify is read-only: it never messages sellers or posts anything.

Step 1: install Pouncify

  1. Download Pouncify for Windows or Mac and run the installer. watch 0:36
  2. Open Pouncify and accept the terms. It starts on its set-up checklist: your searches, notifications, keep-awake, and your plan. The steps below follow it top to bottom.
  1. Facebook login, optional. Facebook works logged out, with fewer and older listings; one login inside the app gets more, fresher listings over a bigger radius, and it stays on your computer. Click Open Facebook and sign in, or skip it. watch 1:00
  2. Search words: what a seller would write in the title, such as MacBook Air. Where: your ZIP or postal code and a radius. Those two are required. watch 1:21
  3. Optional filters: a price range, Title exclude words, Title must include, and other names or spellings. Start broad, see what comes in, and narrow later. Every filter, explained.
  4. Save, and checking starts on every marketplace at once.
  5. Pace and hours: the Global limits shared by all your searches. Active hours is when Pouncify checks; Min gap is the shortest wait between two checks. With one search the defaults are fine. watch 1:50
Pouncify's search form filled in for a sofa search: search words, a ZIP code and radius on the map, the price and title filters, and where to notify, ready to save
The search form: words, where, and the optional filters. Demo data.

Step 3: choose where alerts go, pair your phone

Connect one channel or several; every alert goes to each channel you switch on. Telegram is free and instant with photos, and its steps are printed on its card (the Telegram how-to). Discord works the same way. Email sends from your own mailbox. For the free phone app: watch 2:11

  1. Install the free Pouncify app from the App Store or Google Play.
  2. On the computer, open Settings → Phone & remote, turn phone access on, and show the pairing code.
  3. In the phone app, tap Scan QR code and point it at the screen. The phone is paired: no account, no password, it talks to your own computer.
  4. Back in Notifications, turn alerts on and click Send test. It lands on the phone. Then review What to notify; the defaults are a good start.
Pouncify's Where to notify card with the Telegram, Email, Discord and Phone push channels and the Send test button
Where alerts go: the phone app, Telegram, email or Discord. Demo data.

Step 4: keep the computer awake

A sleeping computer isn't watching. Keep-awake is set to While plugged in, which is recommended; Always is the other choice. For a guarantee, set the computer to match, once: on Windows, Settings → System → Power & battery → Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts, sleep Never when plugged in (Microsoft's power settings page); on a Mac laptop, System Settings → Battery → Options, turn on Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off (Apple's sleep settings page). A closed laptop lid still sleeps. watch 3:12

Step 5: choose your plan

The free plan watches one search per marketplace, up to 15 hours a day at the hours you pick, with alerts on every channel. The paid plan, bought inside the app, lifts those limits: more searches and around-the-clock checking. Keep the free plan to start; the checklist is done and Pouncify is on watch. watch 3:38

The first listings, and fixing a wrong alert

Checking starts right away: the Searches tab shows each check as it runs, and the new listings from every marketplace land on the Listings tab. The Alerts list under Notifications shows every alert that was sent. If a broad search lets the wrong things through, say Air on its own matching AirPods, edit the search and type the words every right title has into Title must include, separated by commas: MacBook, Air. A comma means every word has to be in the title. Save, and from then on only MacBook Airs get through. watch 4:08

A Pouncify push notification on a phone reading New listing: MacBook Air M4 13-inch, $825, Portland, OR
The first alert on the phone: photo, price, where, and a button that opens the listing. Demo data.

What next

Questions

Is Pouncify free?

Yes. The free plan watches one search per marketplace during the hours you pick, with alerts on every channel, and the phone apps are free. No account and no card. A paid plan, bought inside the desktop app, adds more searches and around-the-clock checking.

Does my phone need to be near the computer?

No. The computer does the watching at home, whenever it is on and awake, and the alerts reach your phone wherever you are.

Which marketplaces does one search cover?

Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist everywhere Pouncify runs, plus OfferUp in the United States and Kijiji in Canada. One search, with one set of alerts, covers all of them.

Can I get the alerts somewhere other than the phone app?

Yes. Alerts can go to Telegram, email or Discord instead of, or as well as, the free Pouncify phone app. Every alert goes to each channel you switch on.

Download Pouncify Free to start · no account · Windows and macOS

Related: Facebook Marketplace alerts · alerts from your computer to your phone · all guides.