Free Canadian cost tools
Is this actually a good deal?
Enter two prices and Cotco tells you which one is genuinely cheaper per unit. No account, no paywall, and the arithmetic is always shown. Cotco also checks Canadian recalls and shows what things have really cost over time.
- Recalls
- Government of Canada
- Trends
- Statistics Canada
- Products
- Open Food Facts
Try it — which one is cheaper?
Sample prices, edit themThese are two real Canadian grocery prices. Type your own price and package size into either box and the answer updates as you go.
Result
Product A is 17.4% cheaper per g
$0.0139 per g versus $0.0169 — a difference of $0.0029 per g.
- Product A: $18.97 ÷ 1,360 g
- $0.0139/g
- Product B: $11.49 ÷ 680 g
- $0.0169/g
Start here
Pick the situation you're actually in.
I only have a barcode
Pull the package size, brand and nutrition, then compare it on price.
Look up a barcode
Is this item safe to buy?
Search Government of Canada recalls for food, consumer products and vehicles before you buy.
Search recalls
Has this actually gotten more expensive?
See what a category has cost across Canada, month by month, from Statistics Canada.
See price trends
A real comparison
$18.97 for 1.36 kg looks cheaper than $11.49 for 680 g. Is it?
Package price tells you what leaves your wallet today. Unit price tells you what you're paying for the thing you actually consume. Divide the price by the quantity, in the same unit, every time.
Read: how to calculate unit price correctlyLarge package
1.36 kg · $18.97
$13.95/kg
Small package
680 g · $11.49
$16.90/kg
The math
$18.97 ÷ 1.36 kg = $13.95/kg
$11.49 ÷ 0.68 kg = $16.90/kg
The smaller package is 17.4% cheaper per kilogram. Buying the big one costs about -$4.01 extra across 1.36 kg.
Price trends
What a category has actually cost
Cotco charts a curated set of Statistics Canada series — Canada-wide average retail prices and Consumer Price Index numbers — so you can see whether a price feels high because it is high. A national average is context, not the price on your shelf.
See all tracked categoriesRecall search
Check it before you buy or eat it.
Search the Government of Canada Recalls and Safety Alerts database — Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Transport Canada — by product or brand. Cotco shows the hazard, what to do, and a link straight to the official notice.
What the search covers
- Recall title, date, and the official Government of Canada notice link
- The hazard and the company's instructions for consumers
- Affected models and UPCs where the notice lists them