South African grocery price comparison app Grocify expands to iPhone and adds two new retailers

The Johannesburg-built tool now tracks pricing across seven retail chains and includes a fuel cost calculator to determine whether splitting a shop across multiple stores is worth the drive

Grocify, a grocery price comparison app built by Johannesburg-based software engineer Ethan Stander, has launched on iOS after an initial Android release in February 2026. The app allows users in South Africa to search prices across multiple grocery retailers simultaneously, compare costs on individual items or full baskets, and identify the cheapest option based on stores near their location.

The app tracks online pricing from more than 1,000 products in near real-time, pulling data from retailer catalogues so that users do not need to check each store's website individually. With the iOS launch, Stander has also added two new retailers to the platform — Clicks and Dis-Chem — bringing the total to seven. Checkers, Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Spar and Woolworths have been available since the original Android launch.

Beyond price comparison, the app includes a fuel pricing calculator that factors in travel costs between stores, helping users determine whether buying everything at one location is cheaper than driving to multiple outlets for individual deals. Users can also load loyalty cards to view discounts available through their rewards programmes, and a barcode scanner allows in-store shoppers to check what they would pay for the same product elsewhere.

The Android version has recorded more than 10,000 downloads since its February launch and holds an average rating of 3.9 out of 5 from 82 reviews. The iOS version was approved by Apple and published on 25 March, following a review process that Stander had anticipated would take longer than Android due to Apple's stricter code compliance requirements.

The app is free, does not require personal information to use, and asks only for GPS location to identify nearby stores, though users can manually enter a different address to check pricing in other areas.

One challenge Stander has faced since launch is name confusion. He estimates that around 5,000 people downloaded similarly named apps, including Grocify: Online Grocery Store, GrociiFy, Growcify and Grocy, while searching for his product. Several of those apps have limited or no functionality in South Africa, and some users have left negative reviews either on the wrong app or on Stander's app after confusing it with another. The correct listing on both app stores is published under the developer name Grocify Labs, with the app titled Grocify: South Africa. The official website is grocifyapp.co.za.