For a free email alert when a stock drops below a set price, with no broker account, TradingView's free plan is the most direct: it emails price alerts during the trading day. Yahoo Finance documents app push notifications instead. A Google Sheet can email you with a little scripting. Avos emails alerts you set in plain words, using closing prices.
This guide is for investors who watch a few levels rather than a screen: a price you'd buy more at, a stop you want to rethink, a holding you want to hear about if it slides. It compares what each free option sends, how, and what it costs. Full disclosure: Avos is our product. Every fact about the others comes from their own pages, linked below, and we say plainly where they do the job better.
Which free tools email you when a stock falls below a price?
TradingView. Its free Basic plan includes 3 active price alerts (pricing). An alert can email the address in your profile, notify you in the TradingView app, show a pop-up or call a webhook (alerts introduction). A standard alert lives at most two months, except on its top plans. One thing to know about the data: TradingView's free real-time US stock prices come from one exchange, Cboe, not the primary exchanges. Its help center says the prices can be "a bit different", mostly because Cboe trades less volume, and the gap shows most on 1-minute charts, thinly traded tickers and pre- and post-market sessions. Data from NASDAQ, NYSE and NYSE Arca can be bought.
Yahoo Finance. Yahoo lists price alerts on its free plan and "Unlimited custom price alerts" on its paid Bronze plan (plans). Its help pages for the iOS and Android apps describe the delivery: "When your target is met, a push notification will be sent to your device." We found no Yahoo help page describing email delivery for custom price alerts.
Google Finance. Google's June 2026 update added AI "tasks" that send you updates on a schedule, as notifications in the Google app and in Google Finance's research panel on the web. The announcement doesn't mention price alerts or email. The do-it-yourself route is Google Sheets: Google's own Apps Script sample emails you when stocks in a sheet fall below their purchase price, on a timer you set. Quotes from the GOOGLEFINANCE function "may be delayed up to 20 minutes" (help).
Your broker. If you already have an account, its alerts are worth checking first. Fidelity's alerts guide, for example, covers a target price, a percentage change from the previous close, moving-average crossings and 52-week highs and lows, as push notifications, with price alerts also by text or email.
Investing.com has offered email price alerts too, but its only page about them is undated, so check whether its alerts still offer email before you rely on it.
What is the fastest free setup?
TradingView. From its setup guide and alert settings guide:
- Create a free account and open the stock's chart.
- Open the alert dialog: the alert button on the top toolbar, the Plus button next to the current price on the price scale, or Alt + A (⌥ + A on a Mac).
- Set the Condition to the price with "Crossing down" or "Less than", and type your price.
- Set the Trigger to "Only once" or "Every time".
- Pick an Expiration date.
- Under notifications, tick Send Email. It goes to the address in your TradingView profile.
- Create the alert.
How do the options compare?
Checked on 6 November 2026 against TradingView's pricing and help pages, Yahoo's help pages, Google's blog and developer docs, and Fidelity's alerts guide, all linked above.
| Option | What you get | How it reaches you | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TradingView | Price alerts during the trading day, on one exchange's real-time US data (Cboe), once or every time | Email, app, pop-up or webhook | Free Basic plan with 3 active price alerts; more on paid plans | Intraday levels without a broker |
| Yahoo Finance | Custom price alerts from a quote | Push notifications in the app | Alerts on the free plan; unlimited on paid Bronze | Phone-first watchers |
| Google Sheets + Apps Script | Your own rule, in your own sheet | Email from your Google account | Free; quotes may be delayed up to 20 minutes | People who like to build |
| Broker alerts (Fidelity, for one) | Price, percentage moves, moving averages, 52-week highs and lows | Push; text or email for price alerts | Needs an account | Investors who trade there |
| Avos News | Levels or daily moves on stocks, ETFs, crypto, forex and commodities, once or every time; news and price combined | Email: as it happens, a daily digest or a weekly report | Free Starter plan includes alerts (pricing) | Long-term levels, with related news |
Which should you pick?
If you already have a broker, use its alerts: they're free with the account and sit next to your orders. If you have no broker and need to know during the trading day, use TradingView. If an end-of-day email is fine and you'd like your levels and the news on those companies in one place, use Avos.
How do Avos price alerts work?
An Avos price alert watches any stock or ETF, plus the major cryptocurrencies, major forex pairs and commodities from gold and oil to coffee. Tickers are checked before you save, never guessed. Each alert can hold several triggers:
- A level: the price goes above or below your number.
- A daily move: the price rises or falls by a set percentage in a day (forex alerts use levels only).
You choose how often it fires. Once pauses the alert after it goes off. Every time fires again each time the price crosses your level, with a small buffer so a price hovering at the line doesn't email you on every wobble. If your level is already crossed, or far from today's price (often a typo), Avos warns you before you save and offers a one-tap fix. The email's subject line carries the price and your level, and every alert email has a one-click link to pause it.
A combined alert goes further: it mixes news and price conditions and fires when all of them hold, or any one, as you choose, so a price level can wait for a condition about the company in the news.
Timing, honestly. Stock and ETF prices in Avos are as of the latest close, the same figures as the public Stockboard. So an Avos stock alert tells you after a close below your level, not the minute the stock trades there, and a dip that recovers before the close won't trigger it. Alerts are checked on a schedule set by your plan, not streamed; the pricing page lists how often.
How do you set up a stock price alert in Avos?
- Sign up for the free Starter plan; no card needed.
- Open Alerts > New alert and describe it: "Email me when AAPL drops below $200". Or use the form: pick the stock, choose "below" and enter your level.
- Check the review: Avos confirms the ticker and warns you if the stock is already below your level or the level looks far off.
- Choose once or every time, then the delivery: as it happens, a daily digest or a weekly report. Preview it, then save.
For the news as well, add a news alert on the company's news by ticker, or a daily market briefing that lists where your watchlist closed next to related news from the sources you pick.
When is another option the better choice?
- You trade during the day. Use your broker or TradingView. Avos reads closing prices, so it can't catch an intraday drop.
- You want to act the moment it fires. A broker's alert arrives where your account and your orders already are.
- You only need a phone buzz for one or two stocks. The Yahoo Finance app's push alerts are simple and free.
- You want full control and don't mind building it. A Google Sheet with GOOGLEFINANCE and an Apps Script timer emails whatever rule you write.
Avos fits best when you watch levels on long-term holdings, would rather describe an alert in a sentence than fill in a form, or want stocks, ETFs, crypto, forex and commodities in one place with the news on them.
Alerts are information, not investment advice.
FAQ
Can I get a stock price alert by email without a brokerage account?
Yes. TradingView's free Basic plan emails price alerts (3 active at a time), a Google Sheet with Apps Script can email you, and Avos emails price alerts based on closing prices. None of these need a brokerage account.
Does Yahoo Finance send price alerts by email?
Yahoo's help pages for its iOS and Android apps describe custom price alerts as push notifications. As of 6 November 2026, we found no Yahoo help page describing email delivery for them.
Can Google Finance send a price alert?
Google doesn't document one. Its June 2026 Google Finance update describes AI tasks with notifications in the Google app, not price alerts or email. A Google Sheet using the GOOGLEFINANCE function and Google's Apps Script sample can email you when a stock falls below a price.
Are TradingView's free stock prices real-time?
TradingView says its charts show real-time US stock data by default, without paying for it, from one exchange, Cboe. Prices can differ a little from the primary exchanges, most on thinly traded stocks, 1-minute charts and outside regular hours.
Are Avos stock price alerts real-time?
No. Stock and ETF prices in Avos are as of the latest close, and alerts are checked on a schedule set by your plan. They suit long-term levels; for trading during the day, use your broker or TradingView.