Frequently asked questions

AlertCamp continuously monitors campsite availability across provincial and national parks in Canada. As soon as a cancellation frees up a campsite matching your criteria, you get an instant alert on your phone. Think of it as a camping-obsessed friend who refreshes the reservation pages for you, except they never sleep and they don't eat your marshmallows.

1. You create an alert in the app: park, camping type, dates, preferred sites.
2. Our servers check availability across the supported park reservation systems responsibly and regularly (based on your plan — detection speed). Our goal isn't to overload the reservation systems, but to help you land a spot.
3. A site opens up? You get a push notification within seconds.
4. One tap on the notification and you're straight on the booking page. First come, first served!

No — and we never will. AlertCamp is your lookout, not your booking agent. We detect the opening and send you a direct link to the booking page. The booking itself is your moment of glory. Keep your payment info ready and your fingers quick!

Yes! Our system detects cancellations you're monitoring as soon as they appear on the reservation systems, and our internal data confirms that hundreds of cancellations happen every week. That said, we can't create cancellations out of thin air (that would be handy, but illegal and slightly immoral). If no one cancels for your dates, no alert — but if someone does, you'll be among the very first to know.

AlertCamp covers many provincial and national parks across Canada, with new parks added regularly. Today's coverage spans car camping and roofed accommodation (yurts, oTENTik, prospector tents, rustic cabins).

Be aware that we currently support only Camping and Roofed accommodation, but we're planning to add more options (like Backcountry) in the future depending on user needs.

Good question, and the honest answer: Sépaq integration is currently under review with the organization. We're waiting for their green light to activate it. As soon as we have it, all Sépaq parks (camping, ready-to-camp, chalets, fishing packages) will immediately be monitored by AlertCamp.

In the meantime, sign up for the Sépaq waitlist on our homepage and we'll email you as soon as the integration is live. No action needed on your end — we'll take care of it.

AlertCamp covers provincial and national parks across Canada, with new parks added regularly. Sépaq integration is coming as soon as the organization gives the green light. Our roadmap goes Canada-wide: we plan to add every province's provincial park system over time. Other jurisdictions like the US or France might follow if demand is there, but nothing confirmed beyond Canada yet.

Let's be clear upfront. AlertCamp doesn't book a site for you. AlertCamp doesn't magically create availability. AlertCamp doesn't guarantee a reservation. AlertCamp doesn't resell camping reservations. AlertCamp doesn't give you any advantage on the morning bookings open. The only thing AlertCamp does is detect reservation cancellations and alert you in real time. The rest is up to you.

Absolutely not. We don't resell any reservations, and we never will. That kind of practice hurts everyone and makes life harder for real campers. If you have a reservation you can no longer use, cancel it — you'll probably get a partial refund, and more importantly, you'll let someone else enjoy the outdoors instead of leaving an empty site.

We're very careful about how we access data. We actually believe our service can reduce load on their systems: a single detection can consolidate the searches of dozens of people. Imagine 20 campers all wanting the same weekend at the same park. Instead of each one hammering the page in a loop, our system consolidates it into a single check. Like in camping, we try to leave no trace.

On the contrary! We see ourselves as an ally to the parks. We help fill sites that would otherwise stay empty (and unpaid) after a cancellation. More occupied sites = more park revenue, and more people enjoying the outdoors. Everyone wins.

Unfortunately no, that's not our niche. On opening day, AlertCamp won't help you. For that big morning, you need to do your research in advance, wake up early, be logged in on the reservation site, and have the fastest fingers in the family. If all goes well, you'll never need us! But if your dream site slips away, that's where AlertCamp kicks in — to monitor cancellations between opening day and your stay date.

Depends on your plan! Pro detects every 1 to 3 minutes. Regular, every 5 to 8 minutes. Free (Essai), every 10 to 15 minutes. The faster your plan, the further ahead of the competition you are.

That said, our system is designed to smartly consolidate checks. When multiple users monitor the same park, we group their requests into a single query to the provider. Faster plans effectively do more checks, but the extra load stays minimal thanks to our efficient grouping across our infrastructure.

Push notification on your phone (all plans) — that's the fastest. Email for Regular and Pro plans. SMS for Pro plan only. You can enable or disable each channel per alert.

Yes, day and night, 7 days a week. Cancellations can happen at 3 AM on a Tuesday — and we'll be there. (You, on the other hand, sleep tight. The notification will be waiting when you wake up.)

Yes! You can pause and resume your alerts anytime directly in the app. Good to know: a paused alert doesn't count against your active alerts quota, so you can keep some in reserve without penalty.

No, we won't spam you! You get a notification when a site becomes available (goes from reserved to free). If the same site stays open, we don't re-notify at every check. And because you target the specific sites you care about — not the whole park like the official Notify Me — you only hear about what actually matters to you.

The park name, site number, available date, and a direct link to the booking page. One tap and you're there. No navigating through six menus.

We offer 3 monthly plans:

• Free (Essai) — Free forever. 1 alert, detection every 10-15 min.
• Regular — $2.99/month. 5 alerts, detection every 5-8 min + email.
• Pro — $9.99/month. 15 alerts, detection every 1-3 min + email + SMS.

All prices in Canadian dollars. These are introductory launch prices — prices may increase as we add more parks and features. For comparison, similar services like Campnab and Schnerp charge roughly double for comparable features. Campnab has no free option at all, and Schnerp's free tier is limited to just a few notifications before you must pay. AlertCamp's free plan has no notification cap — it's genuinely free, forever. Think about it: for about $3 per month (Regular), your AlertCamp buddy watches your favourite campsites day and night — pretty sweet deal, right?

We've put together a full side-by-side comparison of AlertCamp, Campnab, Schnerp, and the official Notify Me — covering price, scan speed, notifications, free plans, languages, and coverage. Read the full comparison →

Yes! The Essai plan is free forever. One alert, detection every 10-15 minutes. Perfect for testing the service or if you have a single favourite park. No trick, no credit card required.

And here's a fun fact: our data shows that the average time a cancelled site stays available before being re-booked is several hours. Sure, some popular spots vanish in minutes — but many cancellations sit there for hours, even days, before anyone notices. With 10-15 minute detection, you're far ahead of anyone not using any tool who'd have to stumble onto the opening by pure luck. The free plan is genuinely useful, not a poisoned gift.

Paid plans are billed monthly and auto-renew through the App Store (Apple) or Google Play. You can cancel anytime from your phone's subscription settings — no penalty, no questions asked. Your access stays active until the end of the current billing period.

Yes! You can upgrade anytime — Apple and Google automatically prorate the price. To downgrade, the change takes effect at the next renewal.

Refunds are handled directly by Apple (App Store) or Google (Play Store) per their respective policies. On our end, the service does its job scanning relentlessly — but if no one cancels their reservation for your dates, there's unfortunately nothing to report. It's like a smoke detector: it's always ready, but if there's no smoke, it stays silent.

Directly from your phone's subscription settings (App Store or Play Store). AlertCamp doesn't retain any payment info — everything goes through Apple or Google. Your access stays active until the end of the paid period.

It's a concern we take seriously. The short answer: no.

First, AlertCamp offers a free plan (Essai) that actually works. Anyone can sign up, create an alert and receive notifications without paying a cent. No credit card, no trial period — free forever.

Second, let's look at how it works without AlertCamp. Right now, when someone cancels a camping reservation, who gets that site? Whoever happens to be on the reservation website at the right moment. That's not fair either — it systematically favours people who work from home, who have flexible schedules, or who can afford to refresh a webpage all day. A parent working on a construction site or a nurse on a 12-hour shift has no chance. And let's be honest — tech-savvy people can (and already do) build their own personal tools to monitor cancellations automatically, keeping that advantage entirely to themselves. AlertCamp democratizes this advantage by making it accessible to everyone.

AlertCamp replaces luck with a notification. Even with the free plan, a working parent who can't check the reservation site during the day now gets a push notification on their phone — the same alert, at the same moment, as everyone else watching that site. That's more equitable than the current situation, not less.

Paid plans offer faster detection, but our most affordable paid plan (Regular) costs only $2.99 per month. Monitoring camping availability day and night isn't free for us, and we're not a charity either — paid plans are what allow us to build and maintain this service for everyone. That said, we deliberately keep prices as low as possible, because we believe access to our parks shouldn't depend on the size of your wallet.

• Be flexible on dates. The wider your window, the more notifications you'll get.
• Watch multiple parks. If you're not locked on a single park, create alerts for several.
• Enable push notifications. Push is instant. Email can take a few more minutes.
• Keep your booking info ready. When the alert drops, every second counts. Have a session open on the reservation site and your payment info at hand.
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays are your friends. Many cancellations happen early in the week when plans change.
• Be patient. We don't control inventory — we only detect openings. If it's January and you're looking for a July site, you might have to wait a bit. Most people change their plans as the stay date approaches. Keep your alerts active and cross your fingers — cancellations always end up happening.

Coverage includes car camping and roofed accommodation (campsites, yurts, oTENTik, prospector tents, rustic cabins). Available categories vary by park network. AlertCamp lets you target exactly the type you're interested in.

Absolutely. Create an alert with the specific sites you want, or select "All" for the entire campground. If the first one to open up isn't ideal, you can always book it while waiting for better — and keep your alert active for an upgrade.

Pro tip: create an alert on a site that's already available on the park's reservation website. As soon as our scanner runs (even on the free Essai plan!), it'll detect that the site is free and send you a notification as if it were a real cancellation.

It's your dress rehearsal before the big show. You'll be able to:

• Verify that you receive push notifications (and email if you're Regular or higher, plus SMS on Pro)
• Test the quick booking link to see how satisfying it is
• Get familiar with the whole process before the real pressure hits

Like a fire drill, but way more pleasant and without the screeching alarm. Once everything is confirmed working, you can delete the test alert. When the real cancellation drops, you'll already be a camping ninja.

100%. We're an app available on the App Store and Google Play, with a real team behind it. We don't ask for any banking info (Apple and Google handle payments), and we only store the bare minimum needed to run your alerts.

Yes. All communications are encrypted (HTTPS/TLS), authentication goes through Firebase (Google), and we don't store any payment data. We keep the minimum: your email, your alerts, and your notification token. Full details in our privacy policy.

No. Your data isn't sold, exchanged, given, lent, or sent by carrier pigeon to anyone. We use third-party services (Firebase, RevenueCat) only to run the app, not to sell your camping habits.

By design, for your safety. Our SMS notifications include the full booking URL — pointing directly to the official park reservation website. Yes, these links can be long, but that's a deliberate choice.

Shortened URLs (like bit.ly or tinyurl links) are the go-to tool for phishing attacks. A short link hides the real destination, so you can never be sure where it actually leads. By keeping the full URL, you can see at a glance that the link goes to the official park reservation site — not to some shady lookalike page trying to steal your login or payment info.

Think of it this way: a long URL you can read and verify is always safer than a short one you have to blindly trust. We'd rather send you a few extra characters than put your security at risk.

Pro tip: if you ever receive an SMS claiming to be from AlertCamp that contains a shortened link, do not click it — it's not from us.

Email us at support@alert.camp to request account deletion. Deletion is permanent and wipes all your data (alerts, preferences, history). If you have an active subscription, remember to cancel it first via the App Store or Play Store.

Totally! The status dashboard shows statistics personalized to your account, not system-wide data. If you just created your account and haven't set up an alert yet, it's normal to see "Last scan: -", "Sites monitored: 0", "Notifications sent: 0", and "Availabilities found: 0". These counters reflect your activity — and there isn't any yet!

As soon as you create your first alert, the counters will update automatically after the first scan. You'll see the number of monitored sites go up, and if availabilities are detected, the other counters will follow.

• Check that notifications are enabled for AlertCamp in your phone's settings.
• Make sure "Do Not Disturb" mode is off.
• On Android, check that battery saver isn't preventing AlertCamp from running in the background.
• If everything looks right, sign out and sign back in the app to refresh your notification token.

That's the game! Popular cancellations get snapped up instantly — it's the camping equivalent of Black Friday, except it's every day. Someone else was faster this time. The good news: cancellations happen regularly. Keep your alerts active and stay on the lookout.

Try closing and reopening the app. If the problem persists, check that you have the latest version. Still stuck? Email us at support@alert.camp and we'll help you out.