If you're looking to do some quick and easy price comparison in Canada, there are plenty of sites and apps that can take on most of the legwork for you.
These price comparison services consolidate data from hundreds of websites, so you can search for the price of your specific product across multiple different sites with one click.
This makes it much easier to ensure you're getting the best deal on anything you want to buy – especially big ticket items from big brands. At its core, price comparison is a great way to save money!
So here's a look at the best sites for price comparison in Canada.
Key Takeaways
- Price comparison sites allow you to compare prices from multiple online retailers all in one place.
- The best site for price comparison in Canada is Google Shopping tab.
- Other helpful price comparison sites include ShopBot, PriceGrabber, and PriceBat.
- Taking advantage of price match policies, using cash back sites and cash back credit cards, scoring free shipping, and using coupon apps are other ways to save money when shopping online.
Best sites for price comparison in Canada
What's the best way to compare sites that do price comparisons? Put them to the test, of course!
To illustrate which price comparison site is the best at finding the cheapest products, we put them to the test in a hunt for four medium-to-big ticket items:
- Ninja Air Fryer
- Nintendo Switch
- Canon EOS Rebel DSLR camera
- Owala FreeSip Stainless Steel water bottle
Here's how each of the top sites for price comparison fared:
| Site for price comparison in Canada | Ninja Air Fryer AF100C | Nintendo Switch | Canon EOS Rebel T7 18-55mm DC III Kit | Owala FreeSip Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Shopping Tab | $99 | $349 (refurbished) | $414.91 (open box) | $37.99 |
| ShopBot | $99 | $397 | $491.09 | $34 |
| PriceGrabber | $89.99 | $399 | $554.31 | $41.50 |
| PriceBat | $99 | $399 | $591.98 | $42.99 |
* Note: These prices were accessed on August 30, 2024.
PriceGrabber landed the best deal for the Ninja Air Fryer, coming in at $89, a full $10 cheaper than every other price comparison tool.
ShotBot surprised us with a significantly lower number for the Canon camera, coming in at just over $100 cheaper than PriceBat. The Google Shopping Tab came through with an even better price, but the $414 price tag reflects a product that had already been opened.
ShopBot delivered the best price for the Owala Stainless Steel water bottle at $34, more than $8 better than PriceBat’s best find.
The Google Shopping Tab sourced a Nintendo Switch for $349, but for a refurbished unit. Otherwise, ShopBot delivered the cheapest new Switch, but at a savings of merely $2 over the other price comparison tools.
Google Shopping Tab
Google a product and you'll notice multiple places where Google shows you how to buy it, including a "Sponsored" carousel at the top and the Google Shopping tab right under the search bar.
The carousel gives you a quick look at some of the sponsored options for the product you are looking for. Keep in mind, advertisers are paying for spots on the carousel:
Click the Shopping tab under the search bar if you want to dig deeper for a better price or product option.
This tab grabs product listings all across Google, according to relevance derived from both your search terms and Google history. Those sponsored ads will still be in the carousel at the top of the page, but the shopping tab allows you to filter and sort as if you were looking on Walmart's own site.
Since Google indexes almost everything in existence on the internet, this is a very useful way to compare products.
Why we love it
- The largest pool of products to draw from
- A clean and modern interface with lots of search options
ShopBot.ca
ShopBot sits in the top search ranking spot as the most popular price comparison site in Canada. This is no surprise as it's been around since 2004.
Their growth was probably stunted by their initial focus on electronics, but they've since expanded into a full range of categories. Now they have an impressive collection of both products and stores, many of which you won't find on other price comparison sites.
Why we love it
- Clean, simple home page that's easy to navigate, letting you quickly scan most of the available product categories
- Doesn't display irrelevant search results by searching for permutations of the search terms you enter
PriceGrabber.ca
PriceGrabber started in the USA and eventually became the first price comparison site to migrate to Canada. The user interface appears a bit dated, but it's still simple enough for new users to easily navigate.
The site used to be updated consistently and offered several cool features (like paying users a small fee to review products), but after a short time, the site mostly fizzled out.
Why we love it
- Simple, clean user interface
- Excellent filtering options
PriceBat.ca
PriceBat.ca is a Canadian price comparison site built to compare prices for electronics and games across all Canadian online stores.
PriceBat tends to focus on retailers selling used goods – many retailers come up in searches offering used products first before you find anything new. That said, you can still filter your search results by price and vendor.
PriceBat is a particularly good price comparison shop for techies who really like to dig into the finer details.
For instance, click on the Computers tab at the top of the screen and then tap on "Computer Systems" and you'll see a slew of computer components listed on the left side of the screen. Components are sortable by price and vendor, making PriceBat a price comparison playground for tech heads.
Why we love it
- Focus on tech allows enthusiasts to sort through components at the best prices
- Prioritizes user savings by listing quality used goods at the top of the search results
What are price comparison sites in Canada?
You never want to buy a product before checking prices at other stores first as you might miss a sale or more competitive pricing. Price comparison sites put one of the most important personal finance maxims to work – to shop around!
In the mid-to-late 2000s, price comparison sites emerged as an easy way to compare many sites simultaneously.
But Google has stiffened the competition as online shopping has exploded in popularity. The Google Shopping tab offers extensive price comparisons backed by the search engine’s massive tech know-how, not to mention a clean design. It’s no surprise that most price comparison sites feel stuck in 2010.
Some sites have kept pace – ShopBot has maintained a relatively clean and modern take on what used to be a super useful personal finance tool.
Here's what to expect when you go to most Canadian price comparison sites:
- Find products via search or by browsing through categories
- Filter search results by price, category, manufacturer, store, etc.
- Product thumbnails on search result pages, making it easier to identify products when searching
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$25 GeniusCash + Delicious meal choices with fresh ingredients + Front-door delivery.Alternative ways to get the best prices online
Price comparison is a valuable first step to getting the best price – but what more can you do?
Here are a few more tips to save money:
Take advantage of price match policies
Price matching is when a retailer agrees to sell you a product for a lower price in order to match (or beat) a competitor's price.
This can usually be applied to any item, as long as you provide sufficient proof – which may be as easy as showing the item and its price on your phone. Getting a good price-matching deal can save you both time and money.
Most retailers have individual policies, so it's best to research your favourite stores so you know what to expect.
Earn cash back on every purchase
If you're getting cash back on something you buy, it's basically like getting an exclusive mini deal.
With the right cash back credit card, you could be earning up to 4% on everything you buy. Plus, combine your card with a cash back website and you're getting even more money back on the stuff you were going to buy anyway.
Use a cash back app or website
Using a cash back app or site can get you the best price on a product plus additional money back.
Ready to enter the enchanting world of earning on everyday spending? The GeniusCash app offers some of the best cash back deals on leading financial products – like credit cards, bank accounts, loans, and more. You also get rewards-maximizing recommendations so you never question if you’re using the right credit card for things like groceries, gas, and travel again. GeniusCash will analyze your spending and tell you which one is best.
Here are our top picks for cash back apps and sites in Canada:
Make sure you're getting free shipping
One last tip – if shopping online, it's good to know which retailers won't be charging you extra for shipping. It's never fun to see the item and price you've committed to get jacked up $5 - $10 (or more) once you're at the checkout stage.
There are plenty of sites that offer free shipping, but many do require a minimum purchase before applying this perk, so watch for that.
Use a coupon app to save money
There are a slew of coupon apps, browser extensions, and websites where you can digitally clip coupons and save as you shop. Some websites allow you to download and print coupons as well.
Here are some of the best:
- Honey: A Google Chrome extension you add to your browser, Honey automatically searches for and adds available coupons at checkout.
- Checkout51: This app makes new offers available every Thursday – add the ones you want to your shopping list, tap "Redeem" when you buy those products, then photograph and upload your receipt. Checkout51 will send you cash back
- Flipp: Offering both a website and a mobile app, Flipp lets you compare multiple flyers and coupons simultaneously, plus you can add your chosen items to your shopping list to use in-store or online. Flipp also lets you save and sync all your loyalty cards in one spot.
- Save.ca: Tell this digital coupon service what your interests are, and Save.ca will then automatically send coupons to your inbox whenever they become available.
- RedFlagDeals: Become a member of RedFlagDeals’ massive online community and make use of coupons, deals, and discounts for everything from groceries, electronics, household items, cosmetics, and more.
FAQ
What's the best way to do price comparisons in Canada?
Though price comparison sites have been around for a while, using Google's somewhat recent Shopping tab is now one of the best (although not always the cheapest) ways to do a full comparison of prices available on the internet.
What's a price comparison site?
A price comparison site allows you to search for an item and presents you with a convenient list of prices offered by various retailers online. This way, you can compare prices, makes, models, and more all in one place.
How can I compare prices of products at different stores?
Using a price comparison site is the best way to compare products at various stores. By allowing you to compare items and prices from multiple stores at once, price comparison sites save you both time and money.
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Comments
It looks like they partner with quite a limited list of stores for now but I like the interface fo the site. Now, if they'd only add price history, we'd be all set! I'll consider adding them in a future update to this article.
It's interesting and I like that you incorporated a price history. Looks like your product catalog is limited though and I am disappointed that you can't compare the prices at multiple stores side by side (at least not from what I saw during the quick look I gave it).
Thanks for the two extra sites. I was aware of Nextag.com, but I didn't no they had a Canadian version which I know see that they do in http://www.nextag.ca. I checked out NDPrice.com as well, but it isn't very good though. Hardly worth mentioning.
No problem Fox. Hopefully this will help you save money on that TV because that's what HTSM is all about - helping people save as much money as possible!
Well Aloysa, Bing Shopping uses and entirely different price comparison engine in the United States than it does in Canada, so I can't really comment on how it compares to the Bing Shopping you are used to in the USA. I know they were offering a cash back rebate program that was really generous and a lot of deal hunters in the USA were going crazy over because it was so lucrative. Unfortnately, that cash back program never came to Canada.
In the article I mentioned briefly that Bing Shopping appears to use the same price comparison engine as Wishabi so I think Wishabi developed it for Canada and then licensed it to Microsoft so that they could move into Canada. Personally, I prefer to use Wishabi because they have a few more useful features added on that Bing Shopping doesn't offer.
I'm amazed that so many of you PF bloggers haven't heard about these sites before. Usually you guys tend to know everything and are very hard to surprise with new information! Hopefully the same can be said for the other people reading this as well.
@Miss T - Glad this was timely for you and I'm sure it will help you save money. I can't count the number of dollars I have saved by using shopping comparison sites when purchasing stuff online.
@Brendan - It's nice to see that you are actively monitoring things and are paying attention to what your users are saying about the service that you offer. I wouldn't expect you to have caught wind of this article so quickly seeing as it was only posted earlier today. Thanks for the update on what ShopToIt has coming in the near future.
@Jaymus - I've been heavy into price comparison and price matching for years so I've collected as many tools and resources as I could over the years and really paid attention to it. Hope you find some of them useful.
@Sustainable PF - Well, since I usually use them all it is hard to pick a winner but I think my favourites are probably ShopToIt and PriceCanada but I think that is partially for sentimental reasons as they've always been there for me :) I think Wishabi shows the most promise and offers the most useful features out of the group.