How it works
Costnip shows what people actually paid, so you can see real prices and avoid overpaying. Here’s how it works, step by step.
People share what they paid
Real people share prices from receipts, bills and quotes. No account is needed.
Store receipts
A photo of the receipt, or the price typed in by hand
Bills
Hospital and doctor bills, utility and other bills
Quotes and listings
Estimates from providers, or a price seen online or in an app
Personal details stay private. Reports show the item, price, seller, area and date, never your name. Receipts are seen only by you and a reviewer.
We check, clean and group the data
Matching rules and reviewers check that each report looks right, then group reports for the same item or service, in the same area and currency.
Kept
- Real items and services, matched to the same thing
- The price, date and place of each report
- How much has been checked: a label on every report
- Several reports for the same thing
Left out
- Names and email addresses, which are never public
- Duplicate or made-up reports
- Coupon and member prices, shown separately
- Reports under dispute, until a reviewer decides
We show typical prices and price gaps
You see the lowest, typical and highest prices people paid, in your area or everywhere, so you know what a fair price looks like and how much prices vary.
Typical price
$1,120- Lowest price
- $350
- Typical price
- $1,120
- Highest price
- $4,026
Illustration. A typical price appears once there are at least 5 reports from 3 different people; with fewer, you see each report. You compare and take action
Use what you find to ask questions, get a better price or choose a different provider. You can also share what you paid to help others.
- Compare prices at nearby locations
- Ask the seller to explain a difference or offer a lower price
- Choose a different provider or location
- Share your own price to help others
Fairer prices for everyone
The more people share, the more complete the picture becomes, and the more power everyone has to get a fair price.
Together, we can make prices more transparent.
Real data. Real people. A fairer market.Your privacy comes first.
Your name and email are never shown, and receipts stay private. We don’t sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising. Learn more in our privacy policy.
Common questions
Is my information really anonymous?
Published reports show the item, price, seller, area and date. They never show your name or email, and you can share without an account. Receipts and screenshots are seen only by you and a reviewer; a business location may be identifiable from the report.
Public exports never include private receipts or who contributed. Privacy policy
How do you verify the prices?
Matching rules check the item, conditions and amount, and only a few reports per person count in any one comparison. Reports from new or anonymous contributors are reviewed before they’re published. Every report carries a label saying how much has been checked:
- Self-reported
Someone told us the price. Nobody has checked a receipt.
- Receipt checked
A reviewer read a receipt, bill or screenshot that agrees with the price, store, date and item. It doesn’t prove the document is genuine, and a screenshot or invoice doesn’t prove payment.
- Payment confirmed
A record of the payment matches the store, amount and date.
From the business The business posted it. Shown separately and never counted in customer comparisons.
What kinds of items can I share?
Anything with a price: groceries and household items, restaurant dishes, car maintenance and fuel, home services, travel, bills and subscriptions, and healthcare. Share what you paid, or a price you were shown on a website, in an app or in a quote.
Paid prices, bills, quotes and advertised prices are each kept apart, and so are prices that needed a coupon, membership or loyalty card.
How can I help improve the data?
Share prices you paid, especially for items that still need reports. Add a receipt or screenshot if you have one; it stays private and lets a reviewer check the price. If a report looks wrong, use Report on it.
See all questionsFewer questions
When does a difference count as a price gap?
When people paid clearly different prices for the exact same thing depending on where or how they bought it: one chain’s locations, in store vs a delivery app, phone vs computer, signed in or not. All of these must hold:
- Each side has at least 2 reports from at least 2 people in the last 12 months.
- Every price on the higher side is above every price on the lower side.
- The middle prices of the two sides are at least 10% apart.
- Coupon and member prices are left out.
A gap needs fewer reports than a typical price because it only has to show that two groups clearly don’t overlap. See the price gaps
How strong is a price gap?
Every gap gets a strength label. It moves up only as independent evidence adds up, and describes how well the gap is supported, never its cause.
- 1. Observed pair. Two matched reports show a difference. One example, not independently confirmed.
- 2. Repeated pattern. At least 3 independent sources and at least 2 independently sourced pairs.
- 3. Corroborated finding. At least 4 independent sources, 2 with a checked receipt or payment, and at least 2 independent pairs. Still not proof of why.
These are the standard numbers; a category can set its own.
What can’t this tell me?
- Past prices aren’t offers. Prices change, and stock is unknown.
- Reports come from people who chose to share, so they aren’t a survey of every store.
- A gap shows that prices differed, not why. Coupons, timing, taxes or what was included can explain it. We don’t claim a store is surge pricing or charging people differently.
- Hospital rates are published prices, not a personal estimate of your bill.
Where do the prices come from?
- What people paid: reports from people like you, with a receipt or screenshot if they added one.
- Posted prices: what a business published on its own menu or site, or shared with us. Never counted as what someone paid.
- Open data: official or community datasets, like shelf prices from Open Prices and French fuel prices, each with its date and licence.
- Hospital price lists: the cash and insurance rates US hospitals must publish.
We don’t copy prices from sites whose terms forbid it. Browse the published prices
What if a report is wrong?
Anyone can flag a report. Use the Report action on the specific report.
Businesses can respond. A business can add missing conditions or a factual response.
Disputed reports step aside. Evidence under dispute is left out of current comparisons while it’s reviewed.
Gaps can go down as well as up. A correction can weaken or withdraw a finding.
Is this dynamic or surveillance pricing?
Dynamic pricing changes with demand, availability or time of day. Surveillance pricing uses information about you, or how you behave online, to set the price you see. They can overlap, and a price gap alone can’t tell you which one happened.
Costnip helps you record offers, compare them with what others paid, and ask a seller to explain a difference. It doesn’t block tracking and can’t guarantee a lower price, and it never guesses that personal data was used just because a price changed with your device or account.
Background: the FTC’s surveillance pricing inquiry.
Can businesses change what’s shown?
Businesses can respond to reports, post current prices and ask for a review of a report they think is wrong. They can’t pay to remove or rank reports, get a stronger evidence label, or a better place in the results. Commercial relationships are disclosed separately from findings.
Ready to make a difference?
Share what you paid to help others see real prices.