How to set up Craigslist alerts

Craigslist has free search alerts: save a search in your Craigslist account, tick the alert box, and Craigslist emails you when the search has new results. They are email only, they arrive on a schedule Craigslist sets by how busy the search is, and each email holds up to 20 results, renewals included. Here are the steps, then what the alerts actually give you, then how to get Craigslist listings on your phone the moment they are posted.

Set up a Craigslist search alert

1. Go to craigslist.org, pick your city, and sign in at my account (accounts.craigslist.org). An account is free; it needs an email address.
2. Run the search: category, keywords, and any filters (price range, has image, posted today).
3. Click save search (the bell icon next to the search box on the results page). The search now appears on the searches tab of your account.
4. Open your account's searches tab and tick the box in the alert column next to that search. Craigslist sends a welcome email confirming the alert is on.

That is the whole setup. Alerts go to the email address on your Craigslist account.

How Craigslist decides when to email you

From Craigslist's help page: alert timing depends on how many results the previous alert contained, and "fewer results will cause more frequent searches." A tight search (a model name, a price range) is checked more often than a broad one (a whole category). There is no setting for frequency. Each email shows at most 20 results, newest first, and includes renewed, reposted and edited posts, not only new ones. A search containing "&" only searches the words before it; use Craigslist's search operators instead.

To stop an alert: click unsubscribe in the email, untick the alert column, or delete the saved search.

Source: craigslist, Search Alerts. Checked October 26, 2026.

Searches that make the alerts useful

• Name the model. "Milwaukee M18" is checked more often and emails less junk than "tools".
• Set a price range in the search. It keeps the $5 accessory and the $50 "truck" out of the email.
• One search per Craigslist area. A Craigslist search covers one area. If you live between two, save the search in both.
• The free section. A separate saved search in "free" with your keywords catches curb alerts.

What a working alert gives you

An email, when Craigslist gets to it, that you see when you next open your mail. For slow-moving items and the free section that is enough. For the thing that sells in an hour, the email arrives to tell you what you missed. There is no push notification and no text, and no way to make it faster. If the emails are not arriving at all, see Craigslist alerts not working.

Getting Craigslist listings on your phone

Deal Scanner watches Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp for a search you set, on our servers, around the clock, and buzzes your phone when a listing is posted, with the time we found it on every alert. You type your town; it picks the Craigslist area and applies the radius you choose. A low price limit and a relevance filter keep the junk out, and a Deal Score on each find says how far under the typical price near you it sits. No Craigslist account needed. $3.99 a month for three searches, cancel anytime. More on Craigslist alerts.

FAQ

Does Craigslist have alerts?

Yes. Email alerts for saved searches, free with a Craigslist account: save the search, then tick the alert column on your account's searches tab.

Can Craigslist send alerts to my phone?

Only as email. For a push notification when a Craigslist listing matches your search, you need an app such as Deal Scanner.

How often does Craigslist send alerts?

Craigslist does not use a fixed timer. The frequency depends on how many results the last alert had; narrower searches are checked more often.

Why do my Craigslist alerts repeat the same posts?

Alerts include renewed, reposted and edited posts. The seller renewed the listing.

Do I need a Craigslist account for alerts?

For Craigslist's own email alerts, yes. For Deal Scanner's alerts, no; it never asks for a login to any marketplace.

Sources checked

craigslist, "Search Alerts" help page. Checked October 26, 2026.