How to get a notification when a stock hits a certain price

The short answer: pick the exact price that would make you act, set a price alert at that level, and let your phone tell you when the stock gets there. No refreshing quotes all day. Here is how to do it on Android in about a minute, and how to choose levels that are actually worth an alert.

Set a price alert on Android, step by step

1. Install a stock alert app. Most broker apps and finance portals offer basic price alerts. A dedicated alert app is worth it when you want as many alerts as you like on each stock, more than price triggers, or delivery to email or Telegram. This guide uses Triggerly, which is free with no ads and no in-app purchases. Track 5 stocks free with as many alerts on each as you like; each friend who installs through your invite link and signs up adds 1 more stock, up to 15.
2. Search the ticker from the search box on the home screen.
3. Choose a Price Target alert and enter your level. Pick the direction: crosses above (breakout, take-profit) or crosses below (buy-the-dip level, stop level).
4. Choose one-time or repeating. One-time is right for a single decision ("tell me if it drops to $140"). Repeating suits a level you trade around again and again.
5. Turn on delivery in Settings → Notifications: push, email, Telegram, or any combination. Those channels apply to every alert, not just this one. You don't need to keep the app open.

Which price should you alert on?

An alert is only useful if it fires at a moment when you would really do something. Four levels that pass that test:

• Your buy price. If you like a stock but think it's too expensive, write down the price you'd actually pay. Set the alert there and stop checking the chart. When it fires, you already made the decision while you were calm.
• Your exit or risk level. The price where your reason for owning the stock is wrong. An alert there forces a review instead of a slow drift lower.
• Just above a range high. If a stock has been stuck under the same level for weeks, an alert slightly above the top of the range tells you when it finally breaks out, not every time it pokes at it.
• Your take-profit target. Useful if you tend to hold winners too long or sell them too early.

Common mistakes

• Setting the level too close to the current price. Normal daily noise will trigger it and you'll learn to ignore your alerts. Give it room.
• Too many alerts on one stock. Three well-chosen levels beat ten random ones.
• Forgetting about market hours. Alerts fire during regular US market hours and are checked every 5 minutes. The app also shows pre-market and after-hours prices, but alerts don't fire then. If a stock gaps through your level overnight, the alert fires once the regular session is underway, not in extended hours.
• Price only, when you care about the move. If what you really want to know is "it moved a lot today", a percent-change alert fits better than a fixed price.

Go further than a price

Once price alerts work for you, the same app can watch things that are harder to eyeball: a volume spike, price crossing a moving average, 14-day RSI leaving overbought or oversold, or a trailing stop. Triggerly's Combined Alerts fire only when several conditions are true at the same time, for example price above a level and volume at 2x normal.

FAQ

Is there a free app that alerts me when a stock hits a price?

Yes. Triggerly is a free Android app with price, percent-change, volume, moving-average, 14-day RSI, MACD and trailing-stop alerts. Track 5 stocks free with as many alerts on each as you like; each friend who installs through your invite link and signs up adds 1 more stock, up to 15. It has no ads and no in-app purchases. Push, email, and Telegram are set once for the account.

Do I need to keep the app open to get the alert?

No. Set the alert once and the notification arrives by push, email or Telegram when the price crosses your level. Those channels are turned on in Settings → Notifications and apply to every alert.

Will I get alerts before the market opens or after it closes?

Alerts fire during regular US market hours and are checked every 5 minutes. The app also shows pre-market and after-hours prices, but alerts don't fire then. If a stock gaps through your level overnight, the alert fires once the regular session is underway.

Triggerly guides are for education only. Not investment advice.