Disclosure: We may earn commissions from CamelCamelCamel and Amazon affiliate links, which helps keep our testing independent; our 2026 review remains 100% honest about whe
Amazon prices move constantly — the same item can be $10 cheaper on a Tuesday than it was over the weekend, with no sale banner announcing it. CamelCamelCamel exists to make that invisible movement visible: it’s a free website (plus a browser extension) that plots an item’s Amazon price history and emails you when the price drops to a level you set. It’s been around since long before “price tracker” was a crowded category, and it’s still the free-tier default that most casual shoppers reach for first — the honest question is whether “free” means “good enough,” or whether you actually need Keepa’s paid tier instead.
What it actually does
Paste an Amazon product URL into camelcamelcamel.com (or use the browser extension, which adds a small price-history chart directly on the Amazon product page), and it charts that item’s price over time — typically going back months or years for established products. You can set a price-drop alert at a specific target price, or a percentage-drop alert, and CamelCamelCamel emails you the moment Amazon’s price crosses that line. It tracks more than just the primary Amazon-sold price, too: third-party seller prices and used-condition prices on the same listing get their own lines on the chart, which matters because the “buy box” price isn’t always the cheapest option on a given listing.
It’s available for the US, UK, Canada, and several other Amazon marketplaces, and the core service — charts, alerts, browser extension — has always been free, funded through Amazon affiliate links rather than a subscription.
Where it’s genuinely useful
The price history chart is the real value: before buying anything non-urgent, pulling up 6-12 months of price history tells you immediately whether “today’s price” is actually low, or just back to normal after a temporary markup — a trick some listings use around big sale events. Setting a target-price alert and walking away is also legitimately convenient for wish-list items you’re not in a rush to buy; let the alert do the watching instead of checking back manually.
Honest limitations
No official mobile app. CamelCamelCamel is a website plus a desktop browser extension (Chrome, Firefox); there’s no dedicated iOS or Android app, so mobile users are stuck with the browser view or waiting on email alerts.
New or low-volume products have thin history. A recently listed item, or one with few price changes, gives you a short or flat chart — useful mainly for well-established, frequently-repriced products like electronics, not this month’s new release.
Amazon-only. It doesn’t track Walmart, Target, Best Buy, or any retailer besides Amazon — if you’re comparison-shopping across stores, you’ll need a separate tool or do that part manually.
Less granular than Keepa. Keepa updates price data more frequently (closer to hourly) and layers in Amazon sales-rank history, which matters to resellers and deal-hunters trying to time a purchase precisely — CamelCamelCamel’s free tier updates less often and skips sales-rank data entirely.
Setting up your first price alert
The workflow is genuinely simple, which is most of the appeal: find the product on Amazon, copy its URL, paste it into camelcamelcamel.com’s search box (or, with the extension installed, just look for the chart CamelCamelCamel adds directly under the price on the Amazon page itself). From there, click “Create a Price Watch,” enter an email address, and set either a specific target price or a percentage-drop threshold — CamelCamelCamel checks periodically and emails you the moment the tracked price (new, used, or third-party, whichever you selected) crosses that line. There’s no limit clearly advertised on how many products you can watch at once, so it’s reasonable to set alerts on a full wish list rather than one item at a time.
One extra habit worth building in: check the chart’s date range before trusting a “deal.” A price that looks like a steep drop over 30 days can still be entirely normal over a 12-month view — expanding the window is the single easiest way to avoid mistaking a return-to-baseline price for an actual discount.
CamelCamelCamel vs. Keepa
| CamelCamelCamel | Keepa | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free tier + paid subscription for extra features |
| Update frequency | Less frequent | Near-hourly on paid tier |
| Sales rank history | No | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes (Chrome, Firefox) | Yes (Chrome, Firefox) |
| Mobile app | No | No (browser/extension only) |
| Best for | Casual shoppers wanting a quick price-history check | Resellers and deal-hunters wanting deep, frequent data |
If you’re an occasional shopper who wants to know “is this actually a good price” before checkout, CamelCamelCamel’s free tier covers it completely. If you’re reselling, flipping deals, or need sales-rank data to judge how fast an item moves, Keepa’s paid tier is the more serious tool — CamelCamelCamel stays the better free, simple option for everyone else.
The verdict
CamelCamelCamel does one job — Amazon price history and drop alerts — and does it free, reliably, and without needing an account beyond an email address for alerts. It won’t help you shop other retailers, and it won’t give you the update speed or sales-rank depth a serious reseller gets from Keepa’s paid plan, but for the actual question most shoppers have (“is this a good time to buy this specific thing on Amazon?”) it remains the fastest free answer available.
FAQ
Do I need to create an account to use CamelCamelCamel? No account is required to view a price history chart; you only need to provide an email address to set up a price-drop alert.
Does the browser extension slow down Amazon or require extra permissions? It runs as a standard Chrome or Firefox extension and simply overlays a price-history chart on the product page — it doesn’t change checkout or require anything beyond normal extension permissions.
Is CamelCamelCamel accurate, or can prices lag? The historical chart data is generally reliable for established products, but update frequency is lower than Keepa’s paid tier, so a very recent price change may take longer to appear than it would on Keepa.
Should I use CamelCamelCamel or Keepa? For casual buyers checking whether a price is genuinely low, CamelCamelCamel’s free tier is enough. For reselling or deal-flipping where sales-rank data and near-real-time updates matter, Keepa’s paid tier is the stronger choice.
Sources:
– Best Amazon Price Trackers 2026: Keepa, CamelCamelCamel & Free Extensions
– CamelCamelCamel vs Keepa: Which Is Better? (2026)
– camelcamelcamel Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2