Knows the cheapest store for every item
Coles, Woolies, Aldi and Panetta side by side on every row. Green flag wins.
For Australian families · Free on iOS
The Shops.
The shopping list that knows which store has each item cheapest — whether you're planning Sunday morning or standing in the aisle.
Coles, Woolies, Aldi, Panetta. Share one list with your household. Free.
Free · Sign in with Apple · Takes about a minute
Find the cheapest store
Standing in Aldi. Holding a yoghurt. Wondering if Coles has it cheaper.
You're at the centre with three or four stores in walking distance. Open The Shops, check the row for the item in your hand — green flag means this store wins, skip the rest and grab it next door. No mental maths. No second-guessing.
Or, if you'd rather plan it Sunday morning at home, the same comparison works there too.
- Today's price for every item at every store, in one tap
- Cup-price math so 600g vs 1kg isn't a trick question
- Prices refreshed every night so today's row matches today's shelf
Screenshot:
At the shops. tab
with cross-store prices
+ cheapest-flag column
(see SCREENSHOTS.md)
Best trip, calculated
$84 at Coles. $73 split between Aldi and Coles. $11 back in your pocket.
Once your list is in, The Shops totals what each shop alone would cost, then the cheapest split across every shop that prices an item on your list. You only take the extra carparks when the savings cover them.
- Best single-shop trip AND best multi-shop split — pick what fits your week
- Considers Coles, Woolies, Aldi, Panetta, and any custom shop you've added
- Quantity-aware totals: 2 packs of chops counts as 2, not 1
Screenshot:
Trip Summary panel
"$84 → $73,
save $11"
(At the shops. tab,
Best-trip panel)
Shared with your household
You're in Aldi. They're in Coles. Same list, both phones.
Add something from the couch and it pops up on your partner's phone in the aisle. They tick the brie, you tick the bananas, neither of you doubles up. The person at home remembers the avocados — the person at the centre sees it right away.
- One six-character code to share the list — no email, no signup form
- Changes show up in real time on every device
- A buzz when they tick off the last item — so the one at home knows it's safe to start dinner
Screenshot:
shared list with
multiple members
coordinating
(At the shops. OR
Settings → Household)
Scan to add
Point camera. Item appears. Faster than typing.
Camera at a barcode and the product lands on your list — brand, package size, Nutri-Score, the lot. The kids can do it. Tap the item afterwards to see which store has it cheapest today and what the unit price actually works out to.
- Brand, package size and Nutri-Score auto-filled — no typing
- Type the name if the barcode's scuffed or missing
- Three million products in the catalogue, growing every week
Screenshot:
scanner result sheet
(camera viewfinder
OR product info)
Why this exists
Built for one family. Free for all of them.
I'm Rhys, an independent developer in Sydney. I built The Shops because every Sunday my partner and I were doing the same thing — opening four retailer apps, comparing prices, writing items on a notepad, then forgetting half of them by Wednesday. So I made the thing we wanted.
Core price comparison and household sharing will always be free. The app costs me almost nothing to run, and I don't take investment, so I don't have anyone telling me to add ads or sell your data. Later I might add an optional Pro tier for things like price alerts ("let me know when bananas drop below $3/kg"), but the core never gets gated.
— Rhys, Sydney
What's in the box
All of this. Included.
Shared with your household
One list, every phone in the house. Real-time sync.
Scan to add
Camera at a barcode, item on the list with nutrition info attached.
Sign in with Apple
One tap. No password. No email spam.
Your local shop too
Your IGA, butcher, market or anywhere else — add them as a custom shop and tick items off the same shared list.
Category browsing
Fourteen categories — fruit & veg, meat, dairy, pantry, frozen, bakery and more.
Size comparison
Tap a product to see every other pack size. Unit price tells you when the bigger pack is actually better value.
Search across every shop
Find any product across Coles, Woolies, Aldi and Panetta in one search, ranked by today's unit price.
Notes on items
"Get the unsalted one." "For chocolate cake." Add a note to any item so nobody in the household has to guess.
How it works
Three steps. About a minute.
1
Sign in with Apple
One tap. No password.
2
Share with your partner
Send them a six-character code. They tap it in. Done.
3
Add items, see prices
Decide at home, at the centre, or in the aisle. Green flag wins.
- No ads, anywhere
- No tracking across apps
- Hosted in Sydney
- Delete in one tap
Frequently asked
How much can I actually save?
It depends on your list and how often the cheapest store changes — Aldi might have the bananas this week, Coles next. The good news: The Shops does the maths for you. Once your list is in, you see the actual dollar difference between buying everything at one store and splitting your trip across two. So "how much could I save" becomes a number on the screen, not a guess.
What if my partner won't install another app?
You can use the list solo — every feature works for a household of one. If they change their mind later, send them the six-character invite code from Settings → Household. Their phone catches up to the current list in a few seconds.
How is this different from Notes / Reminders / [other list app]?
Same list, plus the prices. Instead of writing "bananas" and finding out at the till that Coles is $4.50 and Aldi is $2.80, you know before you put them in the trolley. Notes doesn't know what bananas cost. Reminders doesn't either. That's the whole pitch.
Is it really free?
Yes. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads. The app costs me almost nothing to run and I don't take investment. Core price comparison and household sharing will always be free. I might add an optional Pro tier later for things like price alerts — the core never gets gated.
Where do the prices come from?
Refreshed once a day from publicly available retailer information for Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Panetta. The price at the register is always the authoritative one — please confirm at checkout, especially for fresh produce sold by weight.
What about retailers I shop at that aren't in the four?
Add any shop as a custom shop in Settings — your local IGA, butcher, market, anything — and tick items off the same shared list. We can't show prices for custom shops, but the list still works to coordinate with your household.
How do I share a list with my partner / family?
Settings → Household → "Invite". Share the six-character code. They open Settings → Household → "Join" on their device and enter the code. Both phones see the same list, in real time.
What happens to my data if I delete the app?
Tap Delete Account inside Settings, or email support and we'll do it manually. Your data is removed within 30 days. Full details on the Privacy page.
Will The Shops work outside Australia?
Not yet. The retailer data is Australia-specific and the app is currently AU-only on the App Store. If interest grows we'll consider other markets.
Decide before you walk in. Or while you're already there.
Free on iOS. No ads. Built in Sydney by one person for his own family.
Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Panetta are trademarks of their respective owners. The Shops is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any retailer. Prices are sourced from publicly available retailer information and the price at the register is authoritative.