Coinbase price alerts, and where they run out
Coinbase has built-in price alerts on its mobile app: open Account & Settings, choose Notification Settings, then Price Alerts, where you can turn on predetermined alerts for large moves and alerts for the assets on your watchlist (Coinbase Help, checked 28 September 2026). They are free, they need no other app, and for a Coinbase user watching a handful of coins they are often enough. They stop at Coinbase's own listings and Coinbase's own app: there are no alerts on assets Coinbase does not list, no Telegram delivery, no quiet hours, and no threshold you pick from the asset's real volatility. CoinPriceAlert covers those cases and does not need a Coinbase account.
Key facts
| Where Coinbase keeps them | Mobile app → Account & Settings → Notification Settings → Price Alerts |
|---|---|
| What Coinbase offers | Predetermined alerts on large moves, plus alerts on watchlist assets, on iOS and Android |
| What it covers | Assets listed on Coinbase, delivered as a push notification in the Coinbase app |
| What it does not do | Telegram or email delivery, quiet hours, a threshold you choose from measured volatility, or assets Coinbase does not list |
| What this app adds | Crypto, US stocks, metals, energy and forex in one watchlist, push, Telegram and email delivery, quiet hours, and repeat alerts that re-arm |
| Account needed | None here. CoinPriceAlert holds no funds, connects to no exchange and places no orders |
How often each alert would have fired, last 365 days
| Asset | Typical day | 1 day in 10 | Largest day | 2% alert fires / month | 3% alert fires / month | 5% alert fires / month | 8% alert fires / month | 10% alert fires / month | 15% alert fires / month | 20% alert fires / month | 25% alert fires / month | 30% alert fires / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 1.19% | 3.53% | 14.02% | 8.1 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethereum | 1.48% | 4.92% | 17.46% | 11.8 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Solana | 1.75% | 5.3% | 14.95% | 13.5 | 9.5 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How often each 24-hour percentage threshold actually fired over the last year, from Binance daily closes. This is the number a preset alert cannot know about your coin. Highlighted: the tightest threshold that still fired three times a month or fewer. 365 trading days measured; updated 27 October 2026.
How to set a price alert in the Coinbase app
Coinbase's help centre puts alerts in one place on the mobile app: open the menu, choose Account & Settings, then Notification Settings, then Price Alerts. From there you can enable the predetermined price alerts, which notify you when an asset makes a large move, and you can allow alerts for the assets on your Watchlist, which appears on the Coinbase home screen. Both arrive as push notifications from the Coinbase app on iOS or Android.
That is the whole feature, and its simplicity is the point: nothing to size, nothing to configure per coin, no second app. If you hold a few large caps on Coinbase and you want to know when something dramatic happens, turn it on and stop reading here — you do not need us for that. Menu labels move between app versions, so if yours differs, look under notification settings rather than inside an individual asset page.
What a predetermined alert cannot know
A preset threshold is the same number for every asset, and assets do not move the same amount. Over the last year Bitcoin's typical day was about 1.19%, while a small-cap can move several times that before anything unusual has happened. A single preset is therefore either too tight for the volatile coin — firing on ordinary days until you mute it — or too loose for the steady one, staying silent through a move you would have acted on.
The table above is the fix. Pick the row where the alert fires two or three times a month for the asset you actually hold. On Bitcoin that is roughly 5%, which fired about 1.4 times a month over the last year. That is a threshold chosen from the asset, not from a menu.
The cases Coinbase alerts do not reach
Four gaps show up repeatedly. Assets Coinbase does not list cannot be alerted on there at all. Delivery is a push notification in the Coinbase app, so a muted phone is a missed alert and there is no Telegram option. There are no quiet hours, which matters in a market that trades at 4am. And a watchlist that spans crypto, stocks, gold and a currency pair cannot live in an exchange app that only knows its own listings.
None of that makes Coinbase's alerts bad. It makes them exchange alerts: good inside the exchange, absent outside it. If you want the two set side by side on features and price rather than a how-to, there is a <a href='/compare/coinbase'>Coinbase vs CoinPriceAlert comparison</a>. CoinPriceAlert is the other half — it watches prices from public market data, on our servers, and notifies you on the channel you choose. It never asks for an exchange login, an API key or a wallet, because it has no use for one.
Using both, which is what most people do
The sensible arrangement is not one or the other. Leave Coinbase’s big-move alerts on, because they cost nothing and they are already there. Use CoinPriceAlert for the alerts Coinbase cannot express: a specific price on a coin it does not list, a percentage sized from the asset’s own volatility, gold or a stock alongside your crypto, Telegram delivery, and quiet hours so the 4am move is waiting for you in the morning instead of waking you.
Three alerts worth setting
- Bitcoin rises above $82,060 → push and Telegram
- Solana moves 5% in 24 hours
- A coin Coinbase does not list falls below your entry
Never miss a move in Coinbase
Pick a price or a percentage, choose push, Telegram or email, and let it watch around the clock while quiet hours keep the night to yourself.
- Fires about a second after the price hits
- Runs on our servers, so it reaches you with the app closed
- Free for 3 alerts — no card, no account
Download the app for real-time notifications
Frequently asked questions
How do I set price alerts on Coinbase?
On the Coinbase mobile app, open the menu, select Account & Settings, then Notification Settings, then Price Alerts. You can enable predetermined alerts for large moves and alerts for the assets on your Watchlist. Source: Coinbase Help, checked 28 September 2026.
Are Coinbase price alerts free?
Yes. They are part of the Coinbase mobile app and need no extra subscription. They require a Coinbase account and only cover assets Coinbase lists.
Can I get Coinbase alerts on Telegram?
Not from Coinbase. Its alerts arrive as push notifications in the Coinbase app. CoinPriceAlert delivers to Telegram, to push, or to both, on the free plan.
Why does my Coinbase alert fire so often?
A predetermined threshold is one number applied to assets with very different volatility. Bitcoin moved about 1.19% on a typical day over the last year; a small-cap moves several times that. Size the threshold against the asset, as in the table above.
Do I need a Coinbase account to use CoinPriceAlert?
No. CoinPriceAlert reads public market prices. It holds no funds, connects to no exchange, and never asks for an API key, wallet address or seed phrase.
Can I set an alert on a coin Coinbase does not list?
Not in Coinbase. That is one of the main reasons people add a separate alert app — CoinPriceAlert covers a far wider set of assets, plus US stocks, metals, energy and forex.
Guides
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Other alert pages
- Crypto price alerts, set from how coins actually move
- Gold price alerts, with the numbers that set the threshold
- Silver price alerts that fire on the days that matter
- Crude oil price alerts for WTI and Brent
- Forex rate alerts for the pairs that move your money
- Stock price alerts in the same app as your crypto
- Crypto price alerts delivered to Telegram
- Percentage change alerts, sized from real volatility
- Bulk market alerts: one rule, hundreds of coins
- Price change notifications you keep reading
- Alerts on a timer, and what to use instead
Data: Binance daily candles for the last year, recomputed on a schedule. Nothing here is financial advice. Never asks for a private key, seed phrase or exchange API key; it holds no keys of any kind, so the app cannot trade or move funds.