---
title: "Showcase: CostPal - Price tracking app for Costco"
description: "CostPal helps Costco shoppers save money by tracking purchases for price drops and facilitating refunds via Costco's 30-day price adjustment policy."
date: 
  created: 2025-07-13
  updated: 2025-07-13
authors:
  - robingenz
categories:
  - Capacitor
  - Showcase
links:
  - CostPal Website: https://www.costpal.app/?utm_source=capawesome-blog
  - CostPal in App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/costco-companion/id6443647697?pt=125523447&ct=capawesome-blog&mt=8
  - CostPal in Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.costcocompanion.dev&utm_source=capawesome-blog&utm_campaign=launch
---

# Showcase: CostPal - Price tracking app for Costco

Meet CostPal, a smart price tracking app based on Capacitor that helps Costco shoppers save money by automatically monitoring their purchases for price drops and helping them claim refunds through Costco's 30-day price adjustment policy. Developed by Aleksandr Melentiev and Christopher Lee at Gravi Opus Studios, this app has already helped thousands of users save money on their Costco purchases.

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## Introduction

[CostPal](https://www.costpal.app/?utm_source=capawesome-blog){:target="_blank"} (formerly known as "Companion for Costco") is a mobile application that solves a common problem faced by Costco shoppers: missing out on potential refunds when prices drop shortly after a purchase. With Costco's generous 30-day price adjustment policy, customers can get refunds when items they recently purchased go on sale, but manually tracking these price changes is time-consuming and often overlooked.

The app addresses this challenge by automating the entire process. Users upload their Costco receipts, and CostPal monitors their purchases for price drops, sending real-time notifications when savings opportunities arise. The app has over 50,000 downloads and 10,000 monthly active users. To date, CostPal has saved their users over $100,000.

<div markdown>
![CostPal Screenshot](/blog/showcase-costpal/costpal-1.png){ width="220" }
![CostPal Screenshot](/blog/showcase-costpal/costpal-2.png){ width="220" }
![CostPal Screenshot](/blog/showcase-costpal/costpal-3.png){ width="220" }
</div>

## Features

CostPal offers a set of features designed to maximize savings for Costco shoppers:

**Automated Price Tracking**: The app continuously monitors recent Costco purchases for price drops, eliminating the need for manual price checking.

**Real-time Price Adjustment Alerts**: Users receive instant notifications when prices drop on their recent purchases.

**Receipt Upload**: Scan or upload Costco receipts to the app, and it automatically extracts purchase information for tracking.

**Purchase Analytics**: Gain insights into purchasing habits and track total savings over time.

**Price Adjustment Assistance**: The app simplifies the process of claiming refunds by providing guidance on Costco's price adjustment policy.

As one user noted, "As a busy mom and family of 6, I don't have time to watch prices myself."

## Monetization

CostPal follows a freemium model:

**Free Features**: Basic app download and initial setup are free.

**Price Adjustment Assistant**: The premium feature that provides advanced price adjustment assistance is offered as a paid subscription.

**Free Trial**: New users can try the premium features with $5 worth of price adjustment savings at no cost.

**Subscription Tiers**: Plans start at $2.99/month or $29.99/year, with alternative payment options ranging from $0.99 to $9.99 (as of July 2025).

Users only pay when they save money, so the app's success is tied directly to user savings.

## Development

Aleksandr Melentiev and Christopher Lee chose Capacitor for its ability to deliver a "fast-to-market" solution using a single front-end codebase without worrying about iOS and Android specific development complexities.

The app is built with the following technologies:

- Capacitor
- Ionic Framework
- Vue.js
- Firebase (Analytics, Crashlytics, and more)

The team also uses a wide range of Capacitor plugins:

```
@capacitor-community/admob
@capacitor-community/in-app-review
@capacitor-firebase/analytics
@capacitor-firebase/authentication
@capacitor-firebase/crashlytics
@capacitor-firebase/messaging
@capacitor-firebase/remote-config
@capacitor/app
@capacitor/camera
@capacitor/device
@capacitor/filesystem
@capacitor/geolocation
@capacitor/haptics
@capacitor/share
@capacitor/splash-screen
@capacitor/status-bar
@capawesome/capacitor-app-update
@capawesome/capacitor-live-update
@capawesome/capacitor-screen-orientation
@revenuecat/purchases-capacitor
capacitor-branch-deep-links
```

## Q&A

**Q: Why did you choose Capacitor for your app development?**

A: "Fast-to-market by utilizing single front-end codebase without having to worry about iOS and Android specific development. Probably the easiest framework to get a mobile app up and running fast enough at the moment."

**Q: What challenges did you face during development?**

A: The main challenge was dealing with outdated plugins in the Capacitor ecosystem. "We have encountered some outdated plugins for Capacitor, from both community-maintained plugins as well as official big company plugins that were not updated to Capacitor v7 for a long time, hindering our development and plans. We had to create our own forks by upgrading them to v7 compatibility."

**Q: How satisfied are you with Capacitor?**

A: The team rates their satisfaction as 8/10, appreciating Capacitor's ease of use and rapid development capabilities.

**Q: What's your most valuable tip for developers using Capacitor?**

A: Focus on using the extensive plugin ecosystem while being prepared to maintain or fork plugins when necessary for compatibility with newer Capacitor versions.

**Q: What are your future plans for CostPal?**

A: The team continues to enhance the app's features and expand its capabilities.

## Related Posts

- [Showcase: Appreciation Jar — Messages App](./showcase-appreciation-jar.md)
- [Showcase: LEAGUES - The visual football app](./showcase-leagues.md)
- [Showcase: MyBodyTutor — Nutrition Coaching App](./showcase-mybodytutor.md)

## Conclusion

If you sell to a narrow audience, CostPal's pricing is worth copying. The paid feature recovers money for the user, so the subscription only costs them after it has already saved them something.

If you build on Capacitor, budget time for plugin maintenance. The CostPal team had to fork community and official plugins themselves to get them working with Capacitor v7.

*Download CostPal on the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/costco-companion/id6443647697?pt=125523447&ct=capawesome-blog&mt=8){:target="_blank"} or [Google Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.costcocompanion.dev&utm_source=capawesome-blog&utm_campaign=launch){:target="_blank"} to start saving money on your Costco purchases today.*

**You want to showcase your Capacitor app?** Reach out to us at [support@capawesome.io](mailto:support@capawesome.io). We would love to feature your app in our next showcase post!