The Best iPhone Apps for Facebook Marketplace Alerts

First, check Facebook’s own notifications on your iPhone

Before paying for anything, make sure the free option is actually switched on. Facebook can notify you about new listings for searches you have saved, but on an iPhone there are two layers that both have to allow it, and either one can quietly block it.

1. iPhone settings. Open Settings, tap Notifications, then tap Facebook. Make sure notifications are allowed and that the alert style shows on the Lock Screen and as banners. Apple’s guide to notifications on iPhone covers the options.
2. Notification summaries. If Facebook is included in a scheduled summary, its alerts are held back and delivered in a batch. For anything time-critical, take it out of the summary.
3. Focus modes. A Work, Sleep or custom Focus silences apps that are not on its allowed list. If you want Marketplace alerts during the day, allow the app in that Focus.
4. Inside the Facebook app. Open the menu, go to the settings for notifications, and check that Marketplace notifications are on. Facebook moves these menus between versions, so the exact path changes.
5. Save the search. Search for the item in Marketplace and save the search, so Facebook has something to notify you about.

Even with all of that set correctly, Facebook decides when to send a saved-search notification, and it does not say how often it checks. Many buyers find the alerts late, batched or missing, which is what our guide to Marketplace notifications not working deals with. That gap is why the apps below exist. If you want to understand saved searches properly first, see how Facebook Marketplace saved searches work.

The iPhone alert apps at a glance

Six apps on the App Store send alerts for new Facebook Marketplace listings. All figures come from each vendor’s App Store page and website, checked 4 October 2026. Nothing here reflects hands-on testing of a competitor; it is based on each vendor’s public pages.

Two apps that came up in earlier research are missing on purpose. Scout’s App Store page returned “not found” when checked on 4 October 2026, and Zoopy has no App Store listing, so neither could be verified.

Each app in brief

Outpost Alerts

Outpost Alerts is an Australian-built service that watches Facebook Marketplace for new listings matching your keywords and sends them to an iPhone app, a web dashboard or Discord. The iPhone app has been on the App Store since 30 September 2026 and also runs on iPad. Monthly plans are $14.99, $39.99 and $79.99 on the US App Store (A$22.99, A$59.99 and A$129.99 in Australia), or US$14.99, $39 and $79 on the web. Basic gives one watchlist checked every 30 minutes; Standard five, with the fastest every 3 minutes and the rest 5 minutes or slower; Pro ten, with the fastest every minute and the rest 3 minutes or slower. The app is new enough that the US store does not yet show a rating.

Swoopa

Swoopa is run by Market Sourcing Solutions Pty Ltd and has the most established iPhone app here, rated 4.4 from 550 ratings on the US store. Its store page says it scans “every second”, while its pricing page names the speed tiers (basic, fast, instant) without minutes. The App Store lists Go at $47, which matches the monthly web price; on the web, Go is $28 a month on a 12-month commitment for seven Facebook-only searches, with Turbo and Nitro adding other marketplaces. The app is iPhone only. Our Swoopa review covers the plans in detail.

Flipify

Flipify charges per watchlist: $5 USD a month for one checked every 10 minutes, $10 for one checked every minute, with a 7-day trial that needs a payment method. It covers eight marketplaces and runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and the web. The App Store lists a range of in-app purchases from $9.99 to $99.99 without saying what each includes, so compare inside the app. It is rated 4.1 from 72 ratings. The Flipify review works out what five and ten fast searches cost.

Marketplace Monitor

Marketplace Monitor’s in-app purchases match its web plans: $24.99 for one search found within 5 minutes, $44.99 for three at 3 minutes, $99.99 for five at 2 minutes, and $169.99 for five at “instant”. It watches nine marketplaces including Gumtree, runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and has a 7-day trial. It is rated 3.4 from 70 ratings. See Marketplace Monitor alternatives for more.

DealScout

DealScout, from Summit Tech Group LLC, is the one app here with a usable free plan for alerts: one search term, updated hourly, no payment needed. Paid plans promise alerts “within 5 minutes”. The App Store lists in-app purchases from $4.99 to $199.99 but does not state their billing periods. It covers Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and is rated 4.5 from 106 ratings.

Spottable

Spottable, from Australian developer Harbourside Apps Pty Ltd, leans on AI analysis of a listing rather than raw speed. Searching is free with three AI analyses a day; background alerts need a paid plan (Starter $4.99, Pro $14.99, Max $28.99 a month), with “boosted” searches sold separately. It does not need your Facebook password. It runs on iPhone and Mac and had a single rating when checked.

What actually matters in an iPhone alert app

On a phone, a few things matter more than the feature list suggests.

• Where the checking happens. An iPhone does not let apps run freely in the background. A service that checks Marketplace from its own servers and pushes the result to your phone keeps working while your phone is in your pocket. Anything that depends on your phone or browser staying awake will miss listings.
• A published interval. “Instant” and “within seconds” are claims, not intervals. Minutes you can compare. Outpost, Flipify, Marketplace Monitor and DealScout state theirs; Swoopa and Spottable describe theirs in words.
• Whether it needs your Facebook login. A tool that searches while signed in as you puts your own account in front of Facebook’s automation limits. Outpost and Spottable say they do not need it; Flipify only asks for it if you turn on auto-messaging.
• How clean the alerts are. A buzz in your pocket for a phone case, a box or a wanted post trains you to ignore the next one. Relevance filtering and exclude words decide whether you still trust the notification a month in.
• Somewhere other than the phone. A lock-screen alert is easy to swipe away. A dashboard or a Discord channel keeps a record, and lets a buying partner see the same matches.

Once an alert app is installed, give it the same treatment as Facebook in the first section: allow notifications, keep it out of the scheduled summary, and allow it in any Focus you use while buying.

Why the alert has to beat the refresh

Every app on this list exists for one reason. Good listings are gone within the hour, and you cannot beat that by refreshing Marketplace on your phone.

A well-priced listing goes the same way most days. The seller wants it gone. The first message arrives within minutes, a few more follow, and it is marked pending before most people have seen it. The buyer who wins it is usually not the one who wanted it most, but the one who messaged first.

Refreshing does not close that gap. Sorting by newest listings helps while you are looking, but you look a handful of times a day, and each gap between looks is an hour or more in which listings come and go. An alert app turns that around: instead of you checking Marketplace, the service checks it and your phone tells you.

That is why the interval on your most important search matters more than anything else in the table. A one-minute check gives you a head start measured in minutes. An hourly free check, or a speed described only as “fast”, can leave you where refreshing left you.

Where Outpost Alerts fits

For iPhone users who buy on Facebook Marketplace, Outpost Alerts is the strongest all-round choice, for four reasons.

• A stated interval. Your fastest watchlist is checked every minute on Pro, every 3 minutes on Standard and every 30 minutes on Basic. The other watchlists run every 3 minutes or slower on Pro, and every 5 minutes or slower on Standard.
• Measured relevance filtering. Across 30,777 keyword-matching listings, Outpost discarded 38.6% as not the item searched for — 18,890 kept against 11,887 rejected. That is the difference between a notification you act on and one you learn to ignore.
• No Facebook login. Outpost searches Marketplace from its own servers, so your account is never involved and nothing depends on your phone staying awake.
• More than a push. Matches arrive as push notifications in the iPhone app and also in the web dashboard, where you can track what you buy, and in Discord if you add a webhook.

What it does not do matters just as much. Outpost watches Facebook Marketplace only, with no eBay, Gumtree or Craigslist. There is no free plan (every plan has a 3-day trial), no price-drop alerts, no resale estimates and no auto-messaging. There is no Android app; Android users use the web app in their browser. Each watchlist has one location with a 5-500 km (3-310 mile) radius, so several cities means several watchlists. And for a single fast search, Flipify’s $10 one-minute watchlist is cheaper than Outpost Pro. If you buy across several marketplaces every week, a multi-marketplace app may suit that narrower need; if your buying happens on Facebook, Outpost covers it best.

The verdict

Each app here has a case. Swoopa has the most established iPhone app and the most ratings, but its speed tiers are named rather than timed and multi-marketplace coverage starts on its higher plans. Flipify is the cheapest single one-minute search. Marketplace Monitor covers the most marketplaces but charges $24.99 for one search at 5 minutes. DealScout has the only free alert plan, at one search checked hourly. Spottable is built around AI analysis rather than speed.

For most people buying on Facebook Marketplace from an iPhone, Outpost Alerts is the best choice overall: a published one-minute check on your fastest watchlist, a measured relevance filter, no Facebook login, and alerts that land on your iPhone, your dashboard and Discord. Install it, set one watchlist for the thing you most want, and run the 3-day trial to see how early the listings reach you.

For the full field beyond the iPhone, see the Marketplace alert apps comparison, and if you are in Australia, the alert apps compared for Australian buyers. If price is the deciding factor, the free Marketplace alert apps guide covers the free options and their limits.

FAQ

Sources checked

• Outpost Alerts on the App Store: in-app plan prices (US and Australia), checked 4 October 2026.
• Swoopa on the App Store and Swoopa pricing: in-app purchases, devices, rating, plans and trial, checked 4 October 2026.
• Flipify on the App Store and flipifyapp.com: per-watchlist pricing, intervals, marketplaces and trial, checked 4 October 2026.
• Marketplace Monitor on the App Store and its pricing page: plans, find times, marketplaces and trial, checked 4 October 2026.
• DealScout on the App Store: free plan, paid alert speed, in-app purchases and rating, checked 4 October 2026.
• Spottable on the App Store: free tier, plans, devices and Facebook password statement, checked 4 October 2026.
• Apple Support: Use notifications on your iPhone or iPad.

Marketplace features, fees, and policies change. Confirm current rules in Facebook's Help Center before relying on specific details.