Sold out today. Back in stock at 3am. Gone again by morning. A keyword watch is the fix.
By Ashik Elahi · 2 min read · Updated July 2026
Watch the words that appear only when the item is buyable. "In stock" and "Add to cart" are the usual winners; "Notify me" or "Out of stock" are what you want to see disappear. Choose the element containing that text, select "Alert when a keyword appears," and type it in.
Keyword mode fires only on the transition — the keyword was absent, now it's present. A page that reshuffles its reviews or rotates a banner won't wake you up. And if the element you picked disappears entirely, Watchbird flags an error rather than guessing.
Restock services are a business built on knowing exactly which scarce item you want. Watchbird's checks come from your own browser, and the answer is stored on your own machine. There's nothing to leak and no account to create.
| Watchbird | |
|---|---|
| Alert trigger | A keyword you choose appears |
| Matching | Case-insensitive, on the element you picked |
| Check frequency | Every 30 min free · 5 min on Pro |
| Privacy | 100% local — no account, no cloud |
| Cost | Free for 10 watches · one-time Pro |
For hyper-competitive drops — sneakers, GPUs, concert tickets — where the difference between winning and losing is measured in seconds, a dedicated service polling every second from a server will beat a browser-based checker. Watchbird's floor is 5-minute checks on Pro, and only while your browser is open. That's the honest ceiling of this design.
Use the exact text the shop shows when the item is available, like "in stock" or "add to basket". Matching is case-insensitive.
Pick the button itself — its label is text. If the button only appears when the item is in stock, use "any change" mode on that area instead.
No. Keyword mode only fires when the keyword goes from absent to present.
10 watches, forever. No account, no card. Pro is a one-time $14 — never a subscription.
Get Watchbird100% on-device · nothing you watch is ever uploaded