The best price comparison sites and tools in Australia (2026)
Which comparison site to use for what, from electronics and PC parts to Amazon price history, phone plans and cashback, with the honest limits of each, ours included.
In this guide
- The quick answer
- Compare Empire: the same product, store by store, every day
- StaticICE and PCPartPicker: for PC parts
- Google Shopping: the widest net
- OzBargain: the community deal board
- CamelCamelCamel and Keepa: Amazon price history
- WhistleOut, Finder and Canstar Blue: plans and services
- ShopBack and Cashrewards: get some back
- How to use them together
There is no single website that compares every price in Australia. Each comparison tool covers some stores, some categories and some kinds of price, and misses others. The trick is knowing which one to open for which job. Here is how we'd use them, including where Compare Empire fits and where it doesn't.
The quick answer
| If you want to… | Use |
|---|---|
| Compare a phone, TV, laptop or headphones across the big Australian stores | Compare Empire |
| Price a PC build part by part | PCPartPicker (Australian version) and StaticICE |
| See what anything costs across lots of online shops | Google Shopping |
| Find a deal or a coupon someone already spotted | OzBargain |
| Check an Amazon Australia price history | CamelCamelCamel or Keepa |
| Compare phone or internet plans | WhistleOut, Finder or Canstar Blue |
| Get money back on a purchase | ShopBack or Cashrewards |
Compare Empire: the same product, store by store, every day
We check 23,855 tech products at 391 Australian stores every morning, including JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, camera specialists like digiDirect, the PC shops (MSY, Umart, Mwave, PLE) and brand stores like Apple and Samsung. Three things make it different from a general shopping search:
- Exact matching. A 256GB phone is never compared with a 128GB one, and a 65-inch TV never hides behind the 55-inch price. Refurbished, carrier-locked and grey-import listings are left out.
- Price history. We save every price every day, so you can see whether a "was" price was ever real. That's the part most comparison sites skip.
- No paid rankings. Stores can't pay to appear or to rank higher. The cheapest in-stock price is first.
The limits: we only list stores whose prices we can read reliably. Amazon, Kogan, Big W and Officeworks aren't in our tables today, so check them too for anything you're about to buy. We also focus on tech: phones, computers, PC parts, TVs and audio, gaming, cameras and smart home.
StaticICE and PCPartPicker: for PC parts
If you're building or upgrading a computer, the PC parts market has its own tools. StaticICE is a long-running Australian price search that covers a huge number of small computer shops; it's text-only and fast, and ideal for checking one exact part number. PCPartPicker has an Australian version that prices a whole build and checks the parts are compatible with each other.
We cover the bigger PC stores too, and our tables do something those tools don't: they show which store is cheapest most often. See where to buy PC parts in Australia.
Google Shopping: the widest net
Google's shopping results cover almost any product and almost any store that sends Google a feed. That reach is its strength. The weaknesses: paid listings sit at the top, matching is loose (a different storage size or a bundle can show up as "the same" product), and it doesn't tell you whether a price is low for that product. Use it to discover stores, then check the exact product.
OzBargain: the community deal board
OzBargain is where Australians post deals, coupon codes and price errors, and where other shoppers vote and comment on them. It's brilliant for one-off bargains and for warnings ("this seller is a grey importer"). It isn't a comparison tool: a deal only appears if someone posts it, and you have to search for your product.
CamelCamelCamel and Keepa: Amazon price history
Both track prices on Amazon, including amazon.com.au, and chart them over time. They're the best way to tell whether an Amazon "deal" is actually low. They only know about Amazon, though, so pair them with a comparison across other stores before you buy.
WhistleOut, Finder and Canstar Blue: plans and services
For phone plans, NBN and other services, the comparison is about the monthly cost and the inclusions, not a product price. WhistleOut, Finder and Canstar Blue all compare plans. Note that comparison sites in this space often earn a commission when you sign up, and may not list every provider, so read how each one makes its money.
If you're deciding between buying a phone outright or on a plan, start with our outright vs plan guide.
ShopBack and Cashrewards: get some back
Cashback sites pay you a percentage of what you spend at partner stores when you click through from them first. They don't compare prices, but they stack with them: find the cheapest store, then check whether a cashback site gives you a few per cent back there. Read the terms, because some product categories (often phones and gift cards) earn less or nothing.
How to use them together
- Pick the exact product. Model number, storage, size and colour.
- Compare the stores. Use our pages for tech, then check the stores we don't cover (Amazon, Kogan, Big W, Officeworks).
- Check the history. Is today's price low, normal or inflated before a "sale"?
- Ask for a price match if your preferred store is dearer. Here's how.
- Stack cashback if the store is a partner.
That's ten minutes of work, and on a TV or a laptop it's routinely worth a hundred dollars or more.
